


In a Bed of Wildflowers

by poppyfields13



Series: If Not Now, When? [2]
Category: Captain America (Movies), Captain America - All Media Types, Marvel Cinematic Universe
Genre: Alternate Universe, Alternate Universe - Modern Setting, Alternate Universe - No Powers, Bisexual Bucky Barnes, Camping, Fluff galore, Food, Hiking, Journey, M/M, Skinny Steve, Thru-hike, appalachian trail, backpacking, seriously though they go at it like bunnies, things get porny
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2017-01-20
Updated: 2017-01-20
Packaged: 2018-09-18 18:37:43
Rating: Explicit
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 27,551
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/9397868
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/poppyfields13/pseuds/poppyfields13
Summary: Bucky couldn’t be happier. He’s hiking the Appalachian Trail with Steve, and they’re finally more than friends. But as their journey gets closer to the end, he worries what will happen to their relationship once they’ve reached Mount Katahdin. Sequel to “Let’s Share This Mountain Air”.





	

**Author's Note:**

> I still haven’t hiked the AT (yet!), so apologies for any inaccuracies about the trail.
> 
> Thanks again to the wonderful Tinzelda for beta reading this for me. ❤
> 
> Warnings: Overeating/food. Bodily functions.

_Don’t go where I can’t follow. – J.R.R. Tolkien_

**Georgia**

It was never Bucky’s intention to fall for someone on the trail, but from the moment he first saw Steve, he liked him. It wasn’t just his blue eyes and long lashes, the slightly crooked nose, or his full lips. It was the determination on his face. It was the way he carried his giant pack on his small frame, somehow looking as tall as he could while still being stooped over. It was the way he was spirited, but still shy, sweeping his bangs away from his face and looking at the ground when he spoke. 

He was somebody Bucky had to know. 

**North Carolina**

**Tennessee**

**Virginia**

**West Virginia**

**Maryland**

Bucky had a little more pep in his step than usual that morning. He didn’t normally go any farther than eighty yards ahead of Steve, but today he was walking much faster without meaning to and when he noticed, he quickly turned around, jogged back, and kissed Steve on the cheek. Amazingly, Steve let him. 

He’d spent so long flirting with Steve with no reciprocation, that he’d been convinced Steve just wasn’t interested in him in that way. But then last night… He couldn’t believe what had happened. And Steve didn’t seem to regret it either. Bucky was ecstatic. 

They had talked about trying to hike all forty miles of Maryland in one day, but they spent way too long in Harper’s Ferry that morning, having been distracted with kissing, and talking, and clumsy blowjobs. Steve had been a very enthusiastic learner. Bucky couldn’t stop thinking about it. And he couldn’t stop thinking about the next time he could get his mouth on Steve. 

They took hot showers at Dahlgren Campground, even though they’d had them just that morning, it was nice to shower when they could. They sat on the grass by their tent and ate their meals as the setting sun filtered through the trees around them. Bucky barely noticed anything other than Steve. He couldn’t take his eyes off him. 

As soon as they were in their tent, they were all over each other. They fumbled with each other’s waistband, before pushing their hands in to stroke each other. Bucky was pleased to find Steve just as hard as he was, and once again felt a moment of disbelief. He moved his hand around, fondling every piece of flesh he could possibly reach. He wanted to become as acquainted with this area of Steve’s body as he was with his own. It seemed as if Steve was doing the same thing. 

“Shhh,” Steve whispered when Bucky moaned loudly.

Bucky just covered Steve’s mouth with his own, kissing him deeply. Then he pulled away and maneuvered himself so that he was kneeling above Steve. Steve bit his lip, watching Bucky with anticipation in his eyes, and Bucky couldn’t help but grin. 

In the little room he had in the tent, he pulled at Steve’s sweatpants until Steve lifted his ass and Bucky could pull them down to his knees. He admired Steve’s erection but didn’t waste too much time looking at it before he had it in his mouth. 

It was Steve’s turn to moan. Bucky looked up to see him put his hand in his mouth, biting down to prevent himself from being too loud. Bucky spent a significant amount of time kissing and swirling his tongue around the tip until Steve was panting and squirming beneath him, throwing his head from side to side.

By the time he’d sucked Steve off he was close himself. Steve sat up and scrambled to get into the same position, pushing Bucky down by the shoulders. As soon as he felt Steve’s lips around him the familiar tingle was there. Steve formed a circle with his lips and bobbed his head eagerly. He tried taking him deeper but his gag reflex kicked in and he pulled off. “It’s okay,” Bucky said, and Steve went right back to sucking.

The pleasure intensified and he grunted out Steve’s name as a warning, like he had done that morning. He loved swallowing but he didn’t want Steve to feel pressured to do the same. Steve only quickened his pace and Bucky came with a shudder. 

He watched with only faint awareness as Steve tasted him curiously. Then Steve kissed him, pushing his tongue inside Bucky’s mouth. Bucky could taste it too, and he thought, _I could do this forever_. 

**Pennsylvania**

They made it to the halfway point where they took photos by the sign and wrote in the register. Then made their way to Pine Grove Furnace General Store, where they were compelled to do the ‘half gallon ice cream challenge’. They hadn’t eaten anything for breakfast so their stomachs would be empty and ready. Bucky was excited about it. “Yes! I’ve been waiting for this.”

Steve didn’t look as enthusiastic about it as Bucky was. “Oh boy,” he said, as they approached the store. 

Steve chose vanilla and Bucky had to bite his tongue not to tease him about choosing the most boring flavour ever in existence. Bucky chose neapolitan, figuring at least that would offer some variety. They took a seat at one of the picnic tables outside and started eating. They were quiet the first ten minutes or so, really enjoying the ice cream, but then Steve started squirming in his seat and sighing. 

“Here,” Bucky said, “you have a bite of the chocolate or strawberry from mine, and I’ll have a bite of your vanilla.”

“Is that allowed?” Steve asked. He looked back towards the store. 

“Well, I don’t think the ice cream police will come after us for it. We’ll make sure the spoonfuls are even.” So they each scooped out a spoonful from the other’s tub of ice cream and then held them against each other to make sure they were the same size. Bucky had a much bigger dent in his tub of ice cream than Steve did. Bucky offered another swap with Steve but he shook his head and went back to his vanilla, resting his elbow on the table, and his head in his hand. 

Bucky had almost finished when a piercing pain drifted up behind his nose to the top of his head. He clutched at his temples and squeezed his eyes shut. “Ah!”

“Bucky? Are you okay?” Steve asked.

“Brain freeze.”

“Oh.” 

Bucky felt a hand on his forehead and opened his eyes to see Steve looking at him with concern. He had his palm on Bucky’s forehead and was lightly massaging it back and forth. His fingers were cool, but they made Bucky feel warm all over. 

“Thanks.”

“All better?” Steve asked, shyly. Bucky nodded, but was disappointed when Steve moved his hand away.

Bucky finished his 1.5-quart tub of ice cream and went back inside the store to get his pint to make up the half gallon. He finished that pretty quickly too and sat back and watched Steve, who wasn’t even three quarters done with his 1.5-quart. He’d made a valiant effort, but after a while he started to look a little green.

“Don’t try and finish it if you can’t,” Bucky said. “You don’t have to eat it all. It’s just a silly game.” He could see Steve was going to push himself until he made himself sick. 

Steve looked like he wanted to argue but when he looked down at his ice cream, he sighed. “Yeah. I think I might be sick if I eat any more.”

Steve watched in awe as Bucky then finished the rest of _his_ carton, even though it was pretty melted. He retrieved his prize of a wooden spoon from the store that told him he was a member of the ‘Half Gal. Club.’

“I could eat more,” Bucky bragged. “But I’d rather have a cheeseburger instead.” So he did, much to Steve’s astonishment. But he was happy to give Steve some time to perk up again, and luckily, he seemed to be getting some colour back. Bucky ran his hands through Steve’s fine blond hair. Steve looked around but no one else was paying attention to them, too focused on their own goals of finishing their ice cream.

♡

When they got to Duncannon, they went straight to a restaurant and ate as much as they could, trying to fill the perpetual hole in their bellies. Luckily, it was a hiker friendly place because for Steve and Bucky, cleanliness usually only came second to food. So after they finished at the restaurant they found an inn to stay in and get cleaned up.

They took all their clothes off and got into their rain gear. Looking ridiculous, they took their clothes to the laundry and shoved them into a machine. Then they went back to their room for showers. 

While Steve was in the shower, Bucky called his parents on Facetime. 

“You’re in Pennsylvania now?” his mom asked.

“Yep.”

“You look very happy,” she said.

He grinned. “I am.” Should he tell her about Steve? He didn’t want to jinx it. 

His dad stuck his head into the screen beside hers. “Have you thought any more about what you’ll do when you come back?” He didn’t say it meanly. His dad just had this idea that because he’d always known what he wanted in life – a career and family – and he was happy, that if Bucky did the same thing, he would be happy too. But Bucky hadn’t ever been as happy as he was now. He didn’t know how to explain that to his dad.

His grin faded and he shrugged. “I dunno.”

His dad just nodded, but he looked confused.

“Well, we’re very proud of you,” his mom said. “Georgia to Pennsylvania. Wow!”

He laughed. “Thanks mom.” He heard the shower turn off and suddenly remembered that Steve couldn’t do this, his parents were gone. He felt ashamed that he wasn’t living up to his dad’s expectations and ashamed that he wasn’t appreciating his dad as much as he could. And sad that Steve wasn’t able to talk to his mom, and have her tell him how proud she was.

“I have to go,” he said. He didn’t want Steve to come out of the bathroom and hear his mom being so kind to him. 

“Okay, sweetie. We love you.”

“Love you too.” 

He turned off the phone just as Steve came out of the bathroom, billowed by steam. His skin glistened from the water and his cheeks were rosy. Bucky’s heart stopped, as it often did when he looked at Steve. He fell harder for him every day. 

He stood up from the end of the bed and walked towards him. Steve’s smile faded. “No, no, no. Get away from me, I’m clean!” He darted around Bucky towards his pack.

“Aw, come on Steve. Not even a little kiss?”

Steve wrinkled his nose. “No.”

“Please? Just on the cheek.”

Steve looked thoughtful. “Okay, fine.”

Bucky was by Steve’s side in a second, he grabbed him by the jaw and planted a big, wet kiss on his cheek. Then he ran into the bathroom before Steve could react. He heard a disgusted noise through the door and laughed. 

He took a really long shower and when he finally emerged Steve had collected his clothes for him. He picked them up and breathed in the warm, dry fabric. It was rare that they ever had dry clothes on the trail. Getting to wash and dry clothes was a luxury he had never appreciated before. 

Steve was lying on the bed looking at his phone. He had a sunburnt nose, which he thought made him look like a dork, though Bucky thought it made him look adorable. Bucky walked over and gave him another kiss on the cheek. “Thanks.” 

Steve gave him an annoyed look but it quickly dissolved into a smile, so Bucky kissed him again before walking to the mirror to comb his hair. It took him a while since it had gotten quite long, and therefore tangled. He thought it was just about long enough to pull it back into a ponytail if he wanted, but he usually wore his cap anyway. “Ugh.” He poked at the zit on his forehead. Bucky luckily wasn’t prone to bad skin but when he went day after day without washing his face, breakouts tended to happen. 

“Should I grow my beard out?” he asked Steve. Almost all the guys grew their beards out on the trail, but he and Steve always shaved whenever they stayed in a hostel or a motel. Bucky’s beard grew patchy, so he always got annoyed with it and wanted to shave when he could. 

He looked at Steve in the mirror’s reflection for his response. Steve shook his head, then said “Well, I mean, you should if you want to, but…”

“Nah,” Bucky said. “I don't want to.”

They went out to buy supplies for the next few days they would be on the trail and some more snacks for that night. Bucky was hungry again. They tried to stay up and watch TV for a while, but after hands continued to wander, they decided to go to bed. The hotel was incredibly noisy. Laughing, slamming doors, coughing. But still, their lack of sleep was mostly their own doing. They didn’t really try to get much of it. 

Bucky was awakened the next morning by Steve poking him in the side. He groaned and peered out from underneath the pillow he had over his face. “Why,” he whined.

“We have to check out soon, Buck. If we’d been camping we would already be on the trail again by now.”

Bucky groaned again but slowly got up. Their sojourn had come to an end much too quickly.

They went out for breakfast, but eventually it was time to start hiking again. “Alright,” Bucky said. “Let’s find the trail. Just look for some rocks. It’ll be there.”

He’d eaten so much for breakfast that as soon as they were hiking again he had a stitch in his side. He already needed a rest, and sat down on the nearest chair shaped rock. Clearly, it was not going to be a productive day. Steve gave him an exasperated look. He had bags under his eyes from lack of sleep. 

“Sorry,” Bucky said sheepishly.

Steve shook his head and sat down beside him. “I guess we were a bit… overindulgent last night.” He glanced at Bucky. “And in your case, this morning too.”

Bucky laughed. “Yeah, but I don’t regret it.”

Steve smiled. “Me neither.”

♡

It was one of the warmest days they’d had. “Jesus, it must be a hundred degrees out,” Bucky said. Sweat was falling into his eyes and making his scalp itch underneath his cap.

“Can you hear that?” Steve said. 

Bucky stopped to listen. “Sounds like a waterfall.”

They walked in the direction of the sound until they came across a campsite, with a lake and waterfall right beside it. There wasn’t another person in sight. Bucky didn’t even have to think about it. He took off his pack and stripped off his clothes. He turned to Steve, who looked hesitant. He’d taken his pack off, but all his clothes were still on. 

“Come on Steve, there’s no one around.”

He sighed and took his shirt and shorts off, but he left his underwear on. “They need a wash anyway,” he said.

“You don’t have to keep them on to wash them,” Bucky said with a raised eyebrow, but he didn’t push it further than that. He would’ve liked to see Steve naked, but he wasn’t going to pressure him.

“What if someone else comes through though?” Steve said.

“Hey, it’s okay, Steve. You can leave them on.”

Steve looked around one more time, muttered something Bucky couldn’t hear, and let his underwear fall to his ankles. Then he was running into the water before Bucky even got a good eyeful. He ran after him and tackled him into the water. They both came up for air laughing, and Bucky swam away while Steve chased after him. The water wasn’t even too cold. It was _perfect_.

They made their way to the waterfall and stood underneath it for at least fifteen minutes without saying a thing. Bucky could feel the water washing away the dirt and grime from his hair and back. It pounded into his shoulders, loosening the tight muscles. When he’d had enough of the waterfall, he just lay, floating on the surface. Steve cautiously looked around once more before doing the same. 

Steve got out first. Bucky was worried he might have gotten cold, but it was because he wanted to wash his clothes. Bucky finally got out and did the same. All they had was the water from the lake, so Bucky wasn’t sure how much help it was, but he scrubbed the fabric together anyway, and then they lay them out on their tent footprint to dry. 

To dry themselves off, they sat their bare butts on warm rocks on the side of the lake, right in a spot where the sun shone between a couple of trees. A frog jumped out of nowhere and landed on Bucky’s thigh before jumping off again and into the lake. Bucky yawned in contentment. He felt himself starting to doze, and jumped a bit when Steve spoke. 

“When we get to a town with a movie theatre..,” Steve said.

“Mmm?”

“I’m going to take you to the movies. Like, on a date.”

Bucky sat up straight. “Really?”

“Didn’t I say I’d take you to the movies?”

“Yeah, but when you said that, you didn’t actually mean a date. You just said that because I was being a whiny brat when you went off alone.”

“Maybe a little,” Steve said, a teasing grin on his face. “But I want to.”

Bucky’s stomach flip-flopped. “And we can like, hold hands and shit?” He tried not to sound too interested. He wasn’t sure if Steve would be into sappy stuff like that.

“Do you want to do that?” Steve asked.

He paused. “Yeah.”

“Then we will.”

“Can we see the new pirate movie?”

“What new pirate movie?”

“The one that’s rated arrrrrr.”

Steve gave Bucky an unimpressed look as Bucky started to laugh. He stood up and went to check on the clothes, turning them over so they’d dry on the other side. “I take it back,” he said. “No date for you.”

“Aw, man,” Bucky said. He stood up and chased after Steve screaming “ _Please!_ ”

Steve jumped out of the way and ran off. “You are such a kid!” he accused.

“Is that a bad thing?” Bucky yelled after him.

Steve laughed. “No.”

They could’ve stayed by the lake that whole night, but they needed to push on as they only had enough supplies to get them to the next town. Bucky would’ve been disappointed, but he was enthused to push forward knowing he had a proper date with Steve sometime in his future.

♡

The weather remained warm and dry. They found wild strawberries along the trail, and took handfuls to nibble as they continued walking. At around six o’clock, they decided they would camp near the next shelter. Bucky liked being able to use the privies at the shelters, but he didn’t like the shelters because of the mice. There was more privacy in their tent anyway.

As they approached the shelter, they noticed a familiar figure, with long dark hair. “Wanda!” Steve shouted.

She turned from where she was hanging her food bag. “Oh my god, Steve! Bucky!”

They ran to give her a hug. “We were wondering if we’d ever see you again. We’ve been reading your notes in the registers,” Steve said.

“Here I am! I’m so glad to see you. How are you?”

Bucky winked at Steve. “We’re good.”

“You’ll never guess who I saw last week,” Wanda said.

“Who?”

“Crossbones.” She said his name with disdain and air quotes.

“What? He’s ahead of us?” Steve asked. “I thought he dropped out?”

“He got a ride and skipped another section of the trail.”

“Of course he did,” Bucky said. Steve looked annoyed. 

“Yes. And I heard all about his giardia,” Wanda said making a face. “But this time he had pink eye! It was gross.”

Bucky laughed. “Well, it’s a good thing we missed him.”

They continued chatting as Wanda helped them set up their tent right beside hers – she didn’t like sleeping in the shelters either. “Steve, can you pass me the water filter,” Bucky said.

“Sure.”

“Thanks.” As he took the filter from Steve, he leaned down to kiss him on the cheek.

Wanda gasped. “Oh my god!” Steve turned to her looking panicked. “Did you two finally get together?” she asked, looking astonished.

“What do you mean?” Steve asked.

“Well, you were so oblivious to the fact that Bucky was into you, I didn’t think it would ever actually happen.”

“I wasn't _that_ obvious about it,” Bucky said, feeling slightly embarrassed.

“Yes, you were. Even Crossbones mentioned it when I saw him.”

“What?” Steve and Bucky cried in unison. 

“Oh, and I met these two guys, Hawkeye and Ant-Man? They mentioned meeting you. They said it was obvious too. Though they seemed to be under the impression that Steve was interested in you as well. But I couldn’t picture it, he was so _oblivious_.”

Steve had gone bright red by this point. “Well, I guess maybe I was interested in Bucky without realising it,” he said defensively.

It just made him even more endearing to Bucky. “You’re a dope,” he said to him. “But a very cute one.”

“You’re both dopes,” Wanda said.

“Thanks,” Steve said dryly.

Bucky shrugged. “Yeah.”

They stayed up past ‘hiker midnight’ talking to Wanda. She wanted to know all the gory details about how they’d got together. Bucky could tell it made Steve uncomfortable, so he spent the evening steering the conversation elsewhere. Things thru-hikers talked about – other hikers, the weather, food. Poop. They eventually went to bed around ten.

When they were in their sleeping bags, Bucky leaned in for a kiss, but Steve pushed at his chest. “No way. Wanda is just over there!” he hissed.

“What, so I can’t even kiss you?”

“Well, kissing is okay. But nothing else!”

Bucky chuckled. “Okay, okay.”

He leaned in again and Steve accepted the kiss, and soon his tongue. It became heated pretty quickly with Bucky practically on top of Steve.

Steve pushed him away. “We have to stop now.”

“Yeah,” Bucky agreed. He sighed and reluctantly rolled away.

Steve turned on his side, facing away from Bucky and Bucky moved closer. He snuggled Steve, rubbing his nose into the nape of his neck. He pushed his hand into Steve’s sleeping bag and under his shirt, pulling him close. He ran his hand over Steve’s warm belly. It wasn’t soft, but not quite defined either. His hand moved up to Steve’s ribs, which protruded a little more when he was lying down. His fingers grazed over one of Steve’s nipples and he felt it stiffen.

“Bucky,” Steve warned.

“Sorry.” He moved his hand away and wrapped it around Steve’s waist, so that his forearm laid across the hot skin. He’d always been kind of a horny guy but at that moment he couldn’t remember anyone filling him with lust the way Steve did. Maybe it was because he’d never been so in tune with his own body before. The trail did that. But he didn’t think it was that. It was Steve specifically. 

He’d never been with a small guy like Steve. And he’d never really had a type, he pretty much found everyone attractive. But maybe Steve was his type. Or maybe it was just that it was Steve, and Bucky was unequivocally falling in love with him.

♡

The next day it rained hard. Bucky hated when it rained like this, but it was Wanda who had a meltdown. They hiked through the torrential downpour for several hours, but when Wanda slipped and Bucky rushed to help her up, she refused to move.

“Why am I doing this?” she demanded. “This isn’t fun! Being cold and dirty and sore and hungry – why? I’m crazy.”

Steve caught up to them and crouched down beside her. “Are you okay?”

“No!”

He glanced up at Bucky who gave him a helpless shrug. Then Steve sat down right beside her on the muddy trail. He gently put his hand on her shoulder. “Don’t forget that you wanted to do this Wanda. Which means when it stops raining you’ll probably want to keep doing it. And I know you can. Look how far you’ve come already.”

Feeling emboldened by Steve’s pep talk, Bucky spoke up too. “Yeah, you can’t quit on a bad day. We all have those moments when we want to. Trust me, I know how you feel. But most of the time, being out here – it’s all worth it.”

Steve smiled at him gratefully. Wanda still looked miserable, but she nodded. “I know you’re right.” She held out her arms, and Bucky pulled her to her feet. Then she stomped off down the trail without looking back. Bucky helped Steve to his feet and then told him to stand still while he wiped off some of the mud from his butt with a bandana. He wasn’t very successful, but Steve thanked him anyway.

“I should be thanking you,” Bucky said. “You always know what to do when someone’s having a meltdown in the rain.”

“You helped too,” Steve said. “You’re right. This is all worth it.”

♡

They ate a very large lunch in Port Clinton of fried chicken, corn on the cob, burgers and fries, and amazing chocolate cake. Steve groaned when he ate the cake, reminding Bucky of the sounds he made in bed and giving him an untimely hard-on.

Wanda planned to take a break for a couple of days, so after lunch she gave each of them a hug and thanked them. There was a place for hikers to camp in town and it was tempting to stay, but they wanted to forge ahead. However, Steve looked worried as they said goodbye and watched Wanda walk off. 

“She’ll be okay. She’s tough,” Bucky said.

♡

It was time for sleep, but Bucky really didn’t feel like sleeping. He stared down at Steve’s cornflower blue eyes with affection. _Damn_ , he had it bad. “Can I go down on you?” he asked.

“Bucky, no, I’m all sweaty.”

“I don’t care about that,” he said, sliding his hand up Steve’s thigh. He pushed Steve’s t-shirt up to kiss his stomach, then his tongue darted out over his salty skin and laved his navel. Steve’s back arched, pushing his skin closer to Bucky’s face.

“Yes,” Steve said.

He kissed lower and lower until he was pulling down Steve’s pants and nuzzling his nose into the hair at Steve’s groin. Steve was a little sweaty, but it wasn’t bad, he’d had a shower in town that morning. Nothing could have stopped Bucky from wanting to do this. Without hesitation he took Steve into his mouth and sucked ravenously, slowly taking him in and out again. When Steve’s moans turned to whines he pulled off and licked the underside of his dick, teasing him. Steve whined even more, and Bucky loved the sound. He went back to sucking but Steve put his hand out to touch his forehead. “Wait, I don't want to go off too quickly.”

Bucky smirked and went back to sucking – harder. His neck was starting to ache but it was too good to stop, and he was rewarded a moment later when Steve filled his mouth. 

As Steve lay sated, Bucky didn’t have any such misgivings about coming too quickly. He was about to burst. He rolled over and grabbed himself, just one, two tugs and he was coming over his chest.

He was instantly aware of what an awful mess it would be to clean up, but he shrugged. “Worth it,” he said to Steve with a crooked grin.

Steve was no longer looking dopily happy after his orgasm, but was staring at Bucky with a funny look on his face. Bucky wondered if he’d done something wrong. Or had Steve come to his senses and realised he didn’t like doing this with Bucky?

“I have to tell you something,” Steve said. 

“What is it?” Bucky asked, dread in his voice.

“I saw you jerking off.”

That was the last thing Bucky expected to hear. He laughed. “Uh, what?”

“In Gatlinburg? I came back to the hotel room and you were… I left right away, you didn’t see me. I’m really sorry. It was an accident. I’ve felt guilty about it ever since.”

Bucky laughed again. “Is that why you went off to the movies?”

“Yes. And…”

“What?”

“Well, I kept thinking about it. I didn’t mean to. But it popped into my head when I… when I was jerking off. I guess it turned me on, but I didn’t realise at the time that it was _you_ turning me on. I thought maybe it was just because it was sexual? I don’t know.”

“Well, I accept your apology,” Bucky said, trying to look grave, but probably failing miserably. “But I think the least you could do to make it up to me is give me a kiss.”

Steve smiled, looking relieved. He leaned over and kissed Bucky delicately on the lips. “By the way,” Bucky said. “I’ve totally jerked off while thinking about you, so I wouldn’t feel too bad about it if I was you.”

Steve laughed and whacked him in the face with a dirty sock.

♡

It was raining again, because it always rained. When it wasn’t raining, it was humid. They had been trudging along in it all day, but around four o’clock they decided to call it quits and set up their tent. They crawled inside and Bucky made them some ramen. When Bucky cooked, Steve often complained that he should be the one doing it, since Bucky did so many other things around camp. Steve hated when things weren’t fair. Bucky had witnessed him get _very_ annoyed when someone had pushed in line in a grocery store the other day.

It was weird, but Bucky really enjoyed cooking for Steve, even if it was just ramen noodles. He imagined himself cooking for Steve in the future. In a little apartment in Brooklyn. Probably in a room the same size as their tent, with a stove the same size too. But still, a home with Steve. 

It was the first time he’d really thought about his future in a way that wasn’t nomadic. When he started the trail, he thought maybe it was just something he had to do to get it out of his system, then he’d finally be able to start focussing on a career and other life goals. But as his journey progressed and he realised how much he loved it, he’d thought he could never give up this life. He would just keep hiking forever. Now suddenly he was having the opposite feeling – like he wanted to ‘settle down,’ as his dad called it.

He watched Steve quietly eat his noodles and the feeling intensified, clenching around his heart.

“Hey, I just thought of something,” he said. “If we got married, then I could make everyone start calling me Buck Rogers.”

Steve looked up from his food with surprise. “What?”

“Buck Rogers. You know, like the comics?”

“No,” Steve shook his head. “I meant... married?”

The stupid grin Bucky had on his face faltered. “It’s just a joke, Steve.”

God, he was such a fool. He didn’t even know if Steve wanted to continue with... whatever they had after this, and he was bringing up marriage? He tried laughing it off, but he felt supremely uncomfortable. Steve rolled his eyes and concentrated on his food.

Bucky knew people formed intense friendships out here, but he wondered if they lasted once they went back to their regular lives. He definitely wanted a relationship with Steve after all this, but he hadn’t really considered if Steve would too. 

Bucky didn’t have to sit thinking about that for much longer because after Steve had eaten, he got a bad case of hiccups and Bucky spent all evening trying to think of ways to cure him. He eventually got rid of them by tickling Steve all over, and therefore discovering another favourite thing to do with him.

**New Jersey**

It was thrilling to cross the Delaware river and enter their eighth state. Bucky’s legs were fuzzy with pins and needles as they hiked along the Kittatinny ridge. He was hot and sore and had sweat in the most uncomfortable places. But he was the happiest he had ever been. 

“I have a question for you.” He stopped and turned around to face Steve, and he made his face as serious as he could. Which was hard because they’d been encountering a lot of bugs over the past week so they were both wearing stupid bug nets over their heads and looked ridiculous. 

“What?” Steve asked uneasily. 

“You like Harry Potter, right? I can’t believe we haven’t discussed this yet.”

“Of course,” said Steve.

“What Hogwarts house are you in? Actually I already know. It’s Gryffindor, isn’t it?”

Steve gestured agreeably. “Yeah.”

“Knew it.”

“Well, what about you.”

“Don’t you want to guess?”

“Just tell me.”

“Hufflepuff.”

“Oh. That doesn’t surprise me actually.”

“We’re underappreciated,” Bucky said.

“I appreciate you,” Steve said, and Bucky beamed. 

“What about your patronus? No, let me guess. Hmm, a dog? Like maybe a golden retriever or something? Or what about a lion? I know, a bald eagle.” He laughed.

Steve’s face gave it away. 

“You’re kidding,” Bucky said.

“It wasn’t a bald eagle, it was just an eagle. What’s yours anyway?”

“I got a mole.”

“A mole?” Steve made a face.

“Hey! Moles are… kind of cute.”

“I guess they must be,” Steve said.

“Why’s that?”

Steve looked embarrassed and shrugged. “If you got a mole, it must be cute.”

Even though they had the bug nets over their faces, Bucky leaned forward and kissed Steve through them anyway.They jumped apart in surprise when they heard a caw and looked up to find an eagle flying above them. 

“This is a sign,” Bucky said.

“A sign of what?”

“Umm… I’m not sure but it’s definitely a sign.”

“I know what it means,” said Steve.

Bucky smirked. “You do?”

“Yeah, it means the Pottermore website is always right, and you are definitely a mole.”

♡

Steve’s friend Sam picked them up from High Point Monument where they got to view three states – New Jersey, New York, and Pennsylvania – all from the same place. He’d rented a car and was going to drive them into Vernon for the night. Steve and Sam had planned this visit before Steve had even started the trail, and Bucky was worried he would be intruding, but Steve assured him it was fine for him to come along too.

“Sorry we smell,” was the first thing Steve said to Sam when he got out of the car.

“No worries, man. It’s good to see you,” Sam said as he gave Steve a hug. “Whoa. You weren’t lying about the smell.”

“Sorry.”

Sam just laughed and patted Steve on the back. “Is this your friend? Bucky?”

“Thats me.” He held out his hand and Sam shook it. Bucky thought it best not to mention the last time he washed his hands was several days ago.

“Steve told me all about you,” Sam said. He opened the trunk for them to put their packs in. “I booked a motel room.”

“Thanks, Sam,” Steve said.

“Yeah, thanks,” said Bucky. He got into the back seat and let Steve and Sam catch up in the front. His belly grumbled and he hoped they would get to the motel soon so they could have quick showers and go out for food. 

There were two double beds in their room. Sam put his bag on one and Steve put his on the other. So Bucky put his pack with Steve’s. He briefly lamented to himself that they wouldn’t be able to get up to anything that night, before urging Steve to have a shower. 

“You can go first, Buck,” Steve said.

Bucky hesitated for a second, he always liked to let Steve go first, but he was hungry and didn’t feel like getting into one of their ‘no you, no you’ squabbles. “Okay.”

When he got out of the shower, it was kind of weird to stand in the room with just a towel around his waist in front of Sam, whom he barely knew, but Sam had turned the TV on and wasn’t paying him any attention, so he rummaged around in his pack for his camp clothes. They weren’t exactly clean or odor free, but they weren’t caked with sweat either. They would have to do some laundry later that night. He opened Steve’s pack, which was a lot more organised than his, and found Steve’s camp clothes too. He laid them out on the bed for him.

He quickly got dressed and sat at the end of the bed to watch the TV too. “What are you watching?”

“CSI,” Sam said.

“Oh. Right, of course, I know this show.” Sam didn’t say anything else. The characters on the screen were explaining exactly how they discovered who the killer was by the number of maggots on the victim’s body. “Well, that’s gross,” Bucky said. 

“Mm,” Sam barely grunted in agreement.

“If only the police got it right this much in real life,” Bucky continued. He was vaguely aware that he should probably just shut up, Sam was clearly not interested in his palavering, but he couldn’t seem to stop. “Did you know that five percent of incarcerated people are innocent?”

Sam turned to him then. “I didn’t know that. That’s awful. You better not tell Steve that though.”

“Why not? Oh, I guess he’d probably make a banner out of the bedsheets and run outside to protest.”

Sam nodded. “Yeah, he would.”

When Steve had finished in the shower and gotten dressed, Sam drove them to a restaurant and gaped at them as they stuffed their faces. They barely spoke until they had ordered dessert. 

“So, when did you guys hook up again?” Sam asked.

Bucky grinned at Steve. “Harper’s Ferry.”

Sam looked confused. “Oh, I thought it was before that.”

“Huh?” Bucky said and looked at Steve. Straight away he realised Steve hadn’t told Sam about _that_ kind of hooking up, judging by the panicked look on his face. Of course Sam hadn’t meant that kind of hooking up. Jesus. Bucky couldn’t believe he’d misunderstood that. 

“Bucky’s my… we are…” Steve fumbled over his words. 

“Friends?” Sam supplied, still looking confused.

“We’re kind of…”

“Dating?” Bucky said. His stomach erupted in butterflies at saying it. He wasn’t sure if Steve was ever going to. He might not even like that Bucky did. He laughed anxiously. “We haven’t quite got to the date yet though, have we?”

Sam’s eyes were so wide the whites were visible all the way around the pupil. “Wow. Okay. Was not expecting that.” He gave Steve a questioning look. 

Steve just sat there, his eyes darting back and forth between Sam and Bucky. He worried his bottom lip between his teeth. “Right. Dating,” he finally choked out.

Bucky smiled, relieved. God, he wanted to kiss him.

“So let me get this straight... or whatever,” Sam said. “You’re out in the wilderness, stinking to high heaven, and you guys decide you want to–” He stopped abruptly as if he didn’t know what to call it and gestured between them.

Colour appeared on Steve’s cheekbones. “It wasn’t exactly like that.”

“This isn’t _Survivor_ ,” Bucky said. “We brush our teeth at least. Sometimes. Besides, Steve always smells like a Georgia peach no matter what.”

Steve started to smile. “He always says stuff like that. It’s not true.”

“Oh, I know. I smelled you,” said Sam. He gave Steve a playful nudge.

Okay, so maybe Steve didn’t smell like a peach. But he definitely didn’t smell bad. “A plum then,” Bucky said. “I like plums.”

Thankfully, their dessert arrived then. Bucky and Steve had stuck with apple pie, but Sam had a banana Nutella crepe. “How is it?” Bucky asked. “Is it good or is it crepe?”

Sam gave Bucky, and then Steve, a look of disbelief. Bucky wanted to hit himself. He should’ve been trying to make a good impression with Steve’s best friend, but instead he was making terrible jokes. It was his turn to go red. 

He went to take a drink of his Coke and accidentally knocked the straw away with his lips. Unfortunately, instead of readjusting it with his fingers like a normal person he tried to catch it with his mouth. A great failure. 

Steve laughed, but Sam looked at him like he was an alien. Bucky had never had someone take a disliking to him before like this. He had no idea how to react. It was made worse when Steve excused himself to the bathroom and they were left alone. 

“This is awkward,” Bucky said.

“Just don’t hurt him okay?” Sam said.

“I would never do that,” Bucky said, he couldn’t hide the defensiveness in his voice. “I really like him.” _I more than like him._

“Because he was vulnerable when he left…”

That annoyed him. “Are you trying to imply that he was susceptible to being turned gay or something? Just because he’s never been with a guy before doesn’t mean he can’t be with one now, and he can make his own decisions about that.”

Sam threw his hands up as if they were a white flag. “You’re right. I didn’t mean to imply anything like that.”

“Not for nothing, but he’s been happy. Hasn’t he said as much to you?”

“He hasn’t said it, but yeah, I can tell he is. And he’s talked about you a lot. Sorry, I’m just–”

“Protective of him? I get that, but I promise you, I don’t intend to ever hurt him.” That must have been convincing enough for Sam, because he nodded. They sat in silence until Steve came back. 

When they got back to the motel room, Bucky had to use the bathroom immediately. When he came out, Steve and Sam had the distinct look like they’d just been talking about him.

“We’re just going out for a bit,” Steve said.

“Is everything okay?” Bucky asked. 

“Yeah, we just want to hang out... catch up.”

“Oh, okay.”

Steve must have seen the unnerved look on his face because he walked over and gave Bucky a kiss on the cheek. Then he followed Sam out the door.

Bucky sat worrying the whole time. For an absurd moment he thought they might not come back. Both their stuff was still there though. He tried watching TV, but it was just more CSI and he definitely couldn’t concentrate on that. He flicked through the channels. Golf. Boring. Celebrity gossip. Nope. He turned it off.

He wanted to call Nat. He knew she would calm him down. Give him the right advice. But although she had been understanding about their breakup and they were friends now, he didn’t want her to think he was rubbing it in somehow that he’d found someone he really liked. 

They returned after only half an hour, but it felt like a lifetime. Bucky reminded Steve that they had to do laundry. “Okay, I’ll just put my rain pants on.” He got them out of his pack and went into the bathroom to change. Sam didn’t look at Bucky, he just turned the TV on again. Steve smiled at Bucky when he emerged from the bathroom. “Ready.”

They found the laundry room and threw their clothes into the machine. Bucky watched Steve as he read the instructions and inserted their coins. He badly wanted to ask him about the conversation he’d had with Sam, because he knew it was about him. But he didn’t think he had the right to do that, and Steve wasn’t offering up any information. 

Bucky offered to stay and watch the machine while their clothes washed. “I don’t think anyone wants to steal our stinky hiker gear, Bucky,” Steve said.

He shrugged. “I don’t mind.” He sat on one of the plastic chairs and picked up a newspaper someone had left.

“Are you okay?” Steve asked.

“Of course.”

Steve leaned down and kissed him sweetly. “Okay, see you later.”

“Bye.”

He couldn’t concentrate on the paper, but he didn’t want to spend the evening feeling awkward around Sam either. Every single possible conversation he and Steve might have had, Bucky imagined. What if he’d tried to convince Steve he had rushed into something he wasn’t ready for? Or that Bucky had somehow manipulated him into it? 

What if tomorrow Steve was going to tell Bucky he didn’t want to hike with him anymore? But Steve had just kissed him, surely he wouldn’t have done that if any of those scenarios were true. 

When Bucky returned to their room, he thought he might catch Steve and Sam in deep conversation again, but they were just watching TV. Steve smiled as Bucky handed him his clean clothes. “Thanks, Buck.”

It was past the usual time they went to sleep so they got into their clothes and climbed into the bed. “Really?” Sam asked.

“We’re tired,” Steve said.

Sam shrugged. “Well, okay.” He obviously didn’t have any trouble getting to sleep though, because he was snoring before Bucky had even closed his eyes. 

Bucky usually slept like a rock, but that night he tossed and turned. At one point he woke with a start and fumbled around in the sheets reaching for Steve.

“Bucky?” Steve asked groggily. “Is everything all right?”

“Yeah. Go back to sleep.” It took ages for his heart to stop pounding. Steve was still there. 

Sam was a lot nicer to Bucky the next morning at breakfast, passing him syrup and asking if he needed sugar for his coffee. He even laughed with him in the grocery story as they both bought an abundance of snacks, all sugary. 

But Bucky didn’t relax until Sam had dropped them back at the trailhead. Steve waved as Sam drove off, then tentatively took Bucky’s hand as they regained the trail. Bucky sighed with relief and felt warm all over.

♡

They stopped by a shelter at around five o’clock to collect water from the stream that ran past it and to eat their dinner before continuing on a bit farther. They were surprised to find only one other person at the shelter. He was lying down listening to an iPod, tapping his hands and feet on the shelter floor.

He had his head facing the shelter entrance so didn’t notice Bucky and Steve approach. He jumped when Bucky lightly tapped his shoulder. “Sorry,” Bucky said.

He took his headphones off. “No, that’s okay. I wondered if anyone else would show up tonight.”

“We’re not gonna stay, we just came for the water. We’re going to hike a bit more.”

“Oh, okay. I’m Star-Lord.”

“Steve and Bucky,” Steve said before Bucky could introduce him as Captain America. “Why are you called Star-Lord?”

“Well, I don’t have a tent. I cowboy camp almost every night so,” he lifted his hand to the sky. “So, Star-Lord.”

“What about when it rains?” Bucky asked.

“I just rely on shelters.”

Bucky thought that was kind of risky. He’d rather carry the extra weight, but he didn’t say so. 

“Is it going to rain tonight?” Steve asked. “I checked the weather. It said it was going to be fine.”

“Nah, I don’t think so. I was just done for the day and since there was no one else here I thought I’d sleep in the shelter.”

“Well, we’ll leave you alone soon,” Bucky said.

“Hey, it’s fine. No worries.”

“Do you mind if we cook our dinner here?” Steve asked.

“Go ahead.”

They had figured out a way to make ‘grilled cheeses’ with tortillas and cheese slices. It was their favourite thing to eat on the trail. Bucky ate four of them and could have eaten more, if they weren’t rationing for the next few days. He could see Star-Lord eyeing their food from where he was sitting and Steve could too, because he whispered to Bucky, “Can we offer him a one?”

Bucky sighed. “Go on.”

Star-Lord gratefully accepted it. “Wow, this is good,” he said. “I’m going stoveless so I haven’t had anything hot in days.” When they packed up they asked if he wanted to keep hiking with them but he declined. “I’m just about ready for bed.” He yawned. 

They had only walked about half a mile when they heard a weird thumping noise behind them. “Maybe Star-Lord changed his mind,” said Bucky as he turned around. It wasn’t Star-Lord. It was a bear. And it was moving straight towards Steve.

“Hey!” Bucky yelled, his adrenaline kicking in. “Get out of here!”

Steve turned around and yelled in surprise. He raised his trekking poles into the air and waved them around erratically, his face determined. 

The bear stopped and jumped a little, making a frightened noise, and quickly ran off.

Bucky ran to Steve. “Are you okay?”

“I’m fine,” he said, but he looked a little pale.

Bucky laughed. “Oh my God. I can't believe you’ve been worrying about seeing a bear this whole time and when you finally did you scared the crap out of it!”

Steve laughed too, with a hint of nervousness. “Uh huh, but let’s keep going. I’d like to get as far away from here as we can before we set up camp.”

Bucky agreed that was a wise decision. He would really rather not be mauled by a bear. Or have Steve mauled by a bear. “Yeah,” he said. “If a bear even tries to take away my hiking partner, then I will literally fight it – that’s if you don’t get to it first.”

**New York**

“Stop!”

Steve turned, looking alarmed. “What is it?” He looked around, probably searching for a bear. 

Bucky pulled his phone out of his pocket and snapped a picture of him. “You looked cute,” he said. Steve gave Bucky a withering look, but he couldn’t hide the blush that crawled up his neck. 

Bucky heard cars driving by on a road not too far from the trail. “I bet some of the towns around here are having Fourth of July celebrations. I wonder if we’ll be able to see any fireworks? Maybe we should stop somewhere for the night.”

Steve sighed. “Bucky… I have to tell you something.”

Startled, he asked. “What is it?”

“It’s my birthday.”

“What, today?”

“Yeah.”

“On the Fourth of July?”

Steve nodded. Bucky stared at Steve a moment before cracking up. “I knew you would do that,” Steve said.

Bucky howled. “Sorry, but… it’s too perfect.” He threw his arms around Steve’s neck and planted a kiss on his cheek. “Happy birthday.”

Steve laughed. “Thanks.”

“That settles it. We have to stop for the night.” 

A lot of thru-hikers knew at this point that Steve and Bucky were happy with their little trail family of two, but that didn’t stop them from often asking if they could split a room with them to save money. It was difficult to refuse them by explicitly stating they wanted the privacy to fool around, so sometimes there was no easy way out of it. But this meant they stopped more frequently to spend the night if they knew they could be alone. They had been spending far too much time in motels lately and often had to hike into the night to make up the miles, but Bucky thought this excursion would definitely be worth it. It was Steve’s birthday, and that needed celebrating. 

Thankfully, it didn’t take much to convince Steve of this. They found their way to the road and hitched a ride into Monroe. It was actually illegal to hitchhike in New York, but Steve apparently didn’t know about it and neither did the guy who gave them a ride, since he was from out of town. Bucky only felt a little bit guilty about not saying anything. They were dropped off right outside a McDonald’s, so that was their first stop. 

“You don’t want something better than McDonald’s for your birthday?” Bucky asked.

“I just want a cheeseburger, Buck. Or two.” They ordered enough food to feed an army. 

After they’d eaten they walked outside and noticed the festivities coming together. There was a flier on a post telling them exactly where it would be held. “We should definitely go,” Bucky said. Steve looked reluctant. “Come on, Steve, you don’t want to sit in a motel room all night on your birthday, do you?”

“I don’t think that would be so bad. But okay, we’ll go.”

They found a motel, and once Steve was in the shower, Bucky slipped out of the room and hurried back down the street. There wasn’t much choice around for gift shopping. Besides, he didn’t want to get Steve something he couldn’t use and would have to carry for hundreds of miles. He went into the CVS and wandered the aisles there, eventually deciding on a blue t-shirt. Steve wore blue a lot, and it suited him. He also grabbed a bag of candy with American flags on it. 

Steve was just getting out of the shower when Bucky returned. “I got you something,” he said, handing Steve the plastic bag. “I didn’t have time to wrap it, sorry.”

“You didn’t have to get me anything, Buck.” But he looked pleased when he pulled out the items and didn’t even roll his eyes at the candy. He opened the bag and ate one, giving one to Bucky too. 

“I’m just going to have a quick shower,” Bucky said. “Then I have another present for you.”

“You do?”

Bucky winked. “Uh huh.”

He raced through his shower and didn’t bother to shave. Steve was sitting on the bed, the towel still wrapped around his waist, with his hands on his knees. He looked like he hadn’t moved the whole time Bucky was in the shower. 

Bucky walked over and knelt down in front of him. He pulled at the towel, letting it fall to either side of Steve’s thighs. Steve was half hard already. Bucky took him in his mouth and sucked down and up, feeling him become fully erect in his mouth. He pulled away and pushed gently at Steve’s chest. “Lean back a bit.” Steve did as he was told. Bucky pushed at his knees so they opened further. 

Steve watched intently as Bucky sucked his index finger, putting on a bit of a show with his tongue, then brought it down to the space underneath Steve’s balls. He circled it around his asshole. “Is this okay?” he spoke softly. Steve nodded tentatively. 

He took Steve back into his mouth and pressed his finger gently at the opening. He massaged it around a bit more and then pressed in. He could get the tip in, but knew he needed something more slippery. He didn’t want Steve to feel any discomfort, he wanted it to be good.

He pulled away again and stood up. “Hang on a sec.” He moved away and Steve made a disapproving sound. He laughed. “I’ll be right back.” He rummaged in his pack but couldn’t find anything other than sunblock, so he went into the bathroom where he found a tiny bottle of complimentary lotion. _That’ll work_ , he thought.

He knelt down in front of Steve again and Steve leaned back and opened his legs of his own volition. He squirted some of the lotion onto his finger and moved his hand back down. The tip slipped in easily and he slowly inched it deeper. 

“Ah,” Steve sighed.

“Okay?” Bucky asked.

He nodded. “It’s… good.”

Bucky bent his head again to suck on Steve’s dick. Steve’s hips jerked forward and Bucky’s finger slipped further. He continued to suck until his finger was resting all the way in, then he slowly pulled it out again and Steve moaned. He pushed it in and out with increasing speed. 

Once he’d developed a rhythm with his hand he focused his full attention on Steve’s dick. He relaxed his jaw and tongue and took him deeper. He started salivating more than usual but it helped with the glide in and out. Steve clutched at his hair but then pulled his hand away, as if he was worried he would force Bucky’s head to a place he wasn’t comfortable with. Honestly, Bucky didn’t mind having his hair grabbed when he was giving a blow job, but he thought the gesture was sweet. 

Steve was loudly filling the room with grateful grunts, and he could barely keep his ass on the bed, jerking his hips up spasmodically. Bucky clutched Steve’s ass with his free hand, hooked the finger inside in just the right way, and Steve came down the back of his throat.

He pulled back and swallowed while Steve fell back onto the bed panting. He carefully pulled his finger out of Steve’s body. 

“Thank you,” Steve said breathlessly.

Bucky laughed. “Happy birthday.”

He stood up and turned to walk back to the bathroom, intending to jerk off in there, but Steve grabbed his arm. “Hey wait, what about you?”

“Don’t worry about it, I told you it was your birthday present. Just relax,” Bucky said.

Steve used Bucky’s arm to pull himself back into a sitting position. “Okay, well, as part of my present I want to do you too.”

Bucky wasn’t going to argue with that, so he let Steve guide him to stand between his legs. Steve pushed the towel away and leaned down, wrapping his mouth around Bucky’s throbbing erection. He alternated between pushing his lips up and down and sucking the tip, his mouth making suction noises as he did. Bucky couldn’t help but thrust into his mouth and Steve pulled back. “Sorry. God, your mouth.” He was getting so good at it.

Steve jerked him with his hand for a moment. “It’s okay. I like it.”

He held the base of Bucky’s dick with his hand and put his mouth around the end, letting Bucky thrust in and out. “Fuck.” As if he wasn't already close to the edge. It only took a few more thrusts before he was cresting his release.

He patted Steve’s hair as he slipped out of his mouth. He wasn’t sure if his hair was still wet from the shower, or if it was sweat. But he looked debauched and lovely. Bucky sat down next to him on the bed and kissed him, his tongue leisurely entering his mouth, and letting Steve’s enter his. 

He pulled away and sighed contentedly. “I suppose we better get dressed for the party,” he said.

Steve groaned. “I could go to sleep right now.”

“Yeah, but you said you would go, so come on.”

They walked the thirty or so minutes to the part of town where the celebrations were taking place. It was hardly anything to them now, especially on flat ground. Usually the last thing thru-hikers wanted to do when they got into town was walk anywhere, but Bucky didn’t mind. 

There was a DJ playing when they arrived, a few people were dancing, some of the kids were playing games, but most people were crowded around the food vendors. “Ooh, funnel cake,” Bucky said.

Steve eyed the crowd. “I’ll just wait over there while you’re in line, okay?”

“Sure.” He got to talking with a family while he was in line, but he always had one eye on Steve. He waved and Steve waved back. Finally, he got his funnel cake, and took it back to share with Steve. After they’d eaten that, they wandered around and ate corn dogs and pretzels and fudge.

“This is fun,” Steve said. Bucky beamed at him. 

There were fireworks over the pond at dusk. Bucky had difficulty deciding which to watch, the fireworks, or Steve’s delighted face with the lights reflecting in his eyes. 

There was music playing over loud speakers, and Bucky wanted badly to dance with Steve. He imagined taking him out dancing, grinding up against his hot sweating body as the beat pumped through them. There wasn’t exactly a club scene along the trail, so it was unlikely it would happen any time soon, but he hoped it would. There were plenty of clubs in Brooklyn. 

Steve moved closer to Bucky, he felt Steve’s hand knock against his thigh and then find Bucky’s hand. He hooked his pinky finger with Bucky’s, and Bucky thought that felt better than dancing anyway.

♡

They looked out over the Hudson River, ready to cross Bear Mountain Bridge. “This is pretty cool, huh?” Bucky said as they started walking.

“Yeah,” Steve said. “If we wanted, we could get in a boat right here and let the river take us home.”

 _Home_ , Bucky thought. To him, he was home. The trail was his home. But if Steve thought of the city as his home, then Bucky could too. He stopped and made Steve pose by the white blaze for a photo. But if Brooklyn was going to be his home, he wasn’t ready to be there yet. 

**Connecticut**

The crowd along the AT had thinned out a lot, sometimes they went days without seeing another hiker. So they were excited when they came across some trail magic, something that had become more and more infrequent. Bucky shouted and pointed to a cooler sitting underneath a tree. They ran over and threw the lid open. Inside were cans of Coke and a container holding chocolate chip cookies, which looked homemade.

Bucky ripped the lid open and shoved one in his mouth. He groaned it was so good. They took a handful of Cokes and the cookies and sat down to relax, enjoying the kindness of strangers. After a while the chocolate chips melted a little in the sun, and Steve licked the chocolate from his fingers. He noticed the intent way Bucky was watching him. “What?”

“You’re giving me a huge boner right now.”

“Bucky!” Steve looked around.

“Steve, we are literally in the middle of the woods, no one can hear us.” He raised an eyebrow. “We could be doing anything.”

Steve finished off the last of his Coke, ignoring Bucky’s innuendo. Just then, a man appeared out of nowhere, running towards them. He stopped at the cooler. “Hey, is there anything left?” There were four Cokes and one cookie. 

Bucky stood up and handed over the last cookie. “Sorry,” he said sheepishly.

“No worries, anything is great. Us SOBOs don’t come across trail magic as often as you NOBOs.” He was wearing a light blue t-shirt, had frosted hair, and was sweating profusely from his forehead. They stared at him as he downed the Cokes and ate the cookie in one bite. 

“Um, are you _running_ the trail?” Steve asked.

He nodded. “Yep.”

Bucky was impressed. “Wow. That’s amazing. I’m Winter Soldier, by the way.”

“Steve,” Steve added hurriedly.

“Quicksilver. Well, I better get going!” And just as fast as he’d appeared, he was gone.

Steve gave Bucky a pointed look. “I guess we weren’t as alone as you thought.”

“Hey, he might have enjoyed a show. It would’ve been some nice trail magic for him.” 

Steve shook his head and laughed. “Jerk.”

“I’m still hungry,” Bucky complained. “I really could’ve used that last cookie.”

♡

It was very buggy as they continued tramping their way through the forest. They had to run just to get away from a swarm of mosquitos. Bucky was stealthily dodging the rocks on the trail when he heard a yell. He turned to see Steve sprawled on the ground. “Steve!” He rushed over and crouched down beside him.

“I’m okay,” Steve said. “I can walk.” He stood up and grimaced.

“Did you hear a snap?” Bucky asked. Steve shook his head. “What about a popping sound?”

“No, I don’t think so.”

“Lean on my shoulder.”

“I’m okay,” Steve insisted, but he leaned on Bucky’s shoulder anyway. Luckily, they weren’t too far from a road. When they reached it, Bucky stuck his thumb out. No one stopped. 

“Here,” he said. “You sit down while I try to catch a ride. We need to get you to a doctor.”

“I can’t go to a doctor smelling like this!” Steve said.

Bucky ignored him and stuck out his thumb as another car appeared on the road. The car slowed.

Bucky jogged to the driver’s side as the man rolled down his window. “Hi,” Bucky said. “My friend’s hurt, he might have broken his ankle. Can you take us to a doctor?”

“I don’t know about a doctor, but I can drop you in the next town.”

“That’s great, thank you.”

He ran back to Steve and helped him up and into the backseat. He shoved their packs in with him and took the passenger seat. It was only a twenty minute drive to the nearest town and the driver dropped them at a motel. 

Steve sat on a bench outside while Bucky went to reception to book a room. He asked the elderly woman at the counter if she knew of a doctor around as she passed him his key. “Sure honey,” she said. “I’ll get you her number.”

It was four o’clock by they time they were in their room, but Bucky rang the doctor anyway. The receptionist said the doctor could see them first thing the next morning. “I don’t need to see a doctor, Buck,” Steve said from his position on the bed, but Bucky waved his hand at him to be quiet. 

When he was finished on the phone he stood in front of Steve and said, “Let me see.”

Steve gave him an annoyed look but bent down to take his shoes off. He was much slower with the right foot. Bucky sat down beside him and pulled Steve’s leg into his lap. He took off Steve’s sock to inspect the foot. It didn’t look broken, it wasn’t bruised. It was swelling a bit but Steve’s feet sometimes swelled anyway. “I’m going to go look for an ice machine,” he said.

He wandered all over the motel but couldn’t find an ice machine, so he bought a can of Coke from a vending machine and told Steve to hold it against his ankle. He then went out to get them some food. He thought it would be quickest to just go to the grocery store. He bought a bag of frozen peas while he was there, and when he got back he made Steve put that on his foot instead. 

The next morning, the nice lady from reception gave them a ride to the doctor. There was no way Steve could have walked. The doctor inspected his foot, bending it back and forth. “It’s a minor sprain,” she said. “You need to keep off of it for at least a week to let it heal.”

Steve let out a frustrated noise. “I can’t do that.”

“Yes you can,” Bucky said. 

“But–”

“You can, Steve.”

When they got back to the motel, Steve lay on the bed in silence, his back against the pillows and his arms crossed. A new bag of frozen peas on his ankle. “It’s not that bad, Steve. Only a week. Some people get injured and have to drop out completely.”

Steve looked out the window. “You should go on without me, Buck.”

“Why the fuck would I do that, Steve?” Why would Steve even _think_ Bucky could do that. “Unless you’re trying to get rid of me?”

“No,” Steve said, finally looking at him. He had tears in his eyes.

Bucky sat down beside him and pulled him into a hug. He wanted to tell Steve he loved him then. But he was afraid. He didn’t want to do anything to upset Steve even more. He didn’t want to give Steve another reason push him away. To tell him it wasn’t like that for him and maybe they should part ways. 

He hugged Steve tighter and kissed his forehead. “We’ll make up the time,” he said. “It’ll be okay.”

They moved out of the motel to save money, and luckily the reverend at the local church offered them the grassy space behind it for them to camp out. The bad thing about that was that Steve wouldn’t let Bucky touch him. “There’s a church _right there_ , Buck!”

On the trail, Bucky didn’t think about sex _all_ the time, because he was often – although not always – too tired. But when they stayed in towns, it was all he wanted to do with Steve. 

Bucky slept fitfully their first night by the church. He had a nightmare that started as one of his typical dreams about food, and then Steve was there, also not unusual. But then they were standing beside the Hudson River, and Bucky watched as a boat stopped beside them and Steve jumped in. It sped away while Bucky reached out helplessly and yelled Steve’s name.

Steve shook him awake. “Bucky, Bucky, wake up.”

He clutched at Steve’s arm. “Steve.”

“You were calling me.”

“Sorry. I didn’t mean to wake you. It was just a dream.”

“What was it about?”

Bucky couldn’t see Steve’s face in the dark, but there was earnest concern in his voice, and Bucky could imagine his expression. “It was… I don’t even remember now,” he lied. Steve snuggled closer, laying his head on Bucky’s chest. Bucky put his arm around his shoulder and held him tight. Steve went back to sleep straight away, but Bucky lay awake for hours. 

The next day, they ate breakfast, then Bucky went for a walk. He found the library and went inside. He used the wifi for a while, then browsed the shelves. He visited one of the desks and managed to charm the senior librarian into giving him a temporary library card. He filled his arms with books for he and Steve to pass the time with. 

Steve was delighted with the books and could spend all day reading. But for Bucky, it was a problem. Just a few hours of reading a day was more than enough for him, despite the fact he wasn’t even halfway through _Moby Dick_ , which he’d decided he was finally going to read. He tried not to let it show to Steve how restless he was getting, but he needed to go for a stroll around the town at least once a day. And he took his time when he went out to get food too. 

One day, when he was on his walk, he passed a mechanic. There was a dark haired guy outside messing with a Harley Davidson. “Nice bike,” Bucky said.

The guy stood and turned to see who had spoke. “Thanks, it’s mine.”

“Is it a Street 750?”

“Sure is,” the guy said. He patted the seat and gave Bucky a smug grin. He was pretty good looking, in a pompous sort of way. That didn’t stop Bucky from flirting a little.

“Wow. It’s really nice. I’m Bucky.”

“Howard.”

He asked Howard a million questions about the bike, listening intently and making impressed expressions when necessary. Then he asked, “Could I... take it for a spin?” He smiled and obsequiously placed a hand on Howard’s shoulder. Howard looked uncertain. “I’ll only be five minutes. I promise I’ll be careful with it.”

Howard looked like he was agreeing against his better judgement, but he said, “Oh, all right” anyway. Bucky climbed on and Howard placed his hands over his as he explained the steering.

Bucky drove the bike straight to the church. Steve was sitting outside on the grass and gaped at Bucky as he pulled up. “Where did you get that?”

“A guy down the street. I’ve got five minutes. Want a ride?”

“What guy?”

“Just a guy I met.”

“A random guy let you borrow his motorcycle?”

“Yeah, he did.” 

Steve shook his head and chuckled. “Only you could get some random guy to just hand over his motorcycle.”

Bucky grinned. He held out his hand and Steve hobbled over and took it. He climbed on behind Bucky and wrapped his arms around Bucky’s waist. “Hold on tight,” Bucky said, and Steve’s arms clenched tighter.

He drove past the grocery store, the pizza place, the library, and then past the mechanic. He waved at Howard as he did. Then he took Steve back to the church. Steve smiled broadly at him as he hopped down. 

He returned the bike only a couple of minutes later than he said he’d have it back. “That was great. Thanks, man,” he said as he got off the bike. 

“Who was that?” Howard asked. 

“Oh, that’s my boyfriend, Steve,” he said. He felt a bit guilty referring to Steve as his boyfriend when he didn’t really know that. But it also felt good to say, and a little pretending in front of Howard wasn’t going to hurt. 

Actually, Howard looked a little put out. “Oh,” he said. Then Bucky felt guilty about giving the wrong impression and getting to use the bike by less than honest means. Still, it was worth it for the grin on Steve’s face when he returned to the church. 

A couple of days later, they went back to the doctor. She recommended Steve stay off his foot for a few more days but could see Steve wouldn’t be swayed, so she gave him a brace to wear. Steve wanted to be back on the trail immediately, but Bucky convinced him to stay in town just one more night. Steve woke Bucky at five the next morning, pushing and prodding until half an hour later, they were hiking again. 

**Massachusetts**

They met an Australian whose hiker name was Thor, and hiked with him for a couple of days. Thor didn’t seem to be in any particular hurry and strolled along at a pace unusual for a thru-hiker. Bucky wondered how he’d gotten so far.

Normally, it was Bucky who chatted along with other hikers, while Steve added to the conversation only when he was asked a question directly or when he felt it was necessary. But this time Steve slowed down to chat to Thor while Bucky kept walking too far ahead without realising. He was fine with Steve taking things slow, he often told him to do that, and especially now after he’d injured his ankle. But he found he kept having to stop and wait for them to catch up and he was getting annoyed. 

It wasn’t hard to figure out his impatience mostly stemmed from jealousy. Thor was handsome, with light blue eyes and long blond hair that he’d pulled back from his face. Steve wasn’t doing anything in particular to cause Bucky to feel jealous other than being friendly; he just didn’t know what was so interesting about Thor that Steve had to keep walking with him instead of keeping up with Bucky. He picked some sassafras leaves and chewed on them sulkily. 

Bucky was glad when they reached the highway to hitch into Great Barrington. He’d convinced Steve they should take a zero day for him to rest his foot. He was also glad to get rid of Thor, who carried on hiking. 

Once they’d stopped at a diner for food and booked themselves into a motel, they went out to the grocery store to buy new supplies and snacks to eat while they were in town. Bucky loved that thru-hiking meant eating as much junk food as he liked – not that he really restricted himself before – but Steve really struggled with trail food. It made him grumpy every time he had to eat oatmeal, or tuna, or granola bars, and he was sick of Pop-Tarts too. Bucky could eat Pop-Tarts every day and never be sick of them.

At some point during their grocery store visit they wandered away from each other and Bucky found himself in front of the condoms. He stopped and stared at them. He didn’t know what he wanted more – to fuck Steve or to be fucked by him. He wanted both. He’d been tested not long before he began his thru-hike, and he and Steve had had a brief discussion about it in Harper’s ferry, so he knew Steve was clean too, but if they were going to do _that_ he wanted to use condoms – it was easier with controlling mess or any discomfort afterwards. 

If he bought the condoms though, Steve would surely see, and he wasn’t sure Steve would be interested in that. He hadn’t asked. He thought about swiping them, but he wasn’t sixteen anymore. If he couldn’t just talk to Steve about it then maybe he shouldn’t have them at all.

Instead, he went in search of Steve and found him looking at a packet of string cheese. “They really should ban that stuff,” Bucky said.

Steve looked up. “What? Why?”

“Because we need to make America grate again.” 

He was banished to the produce section for that.

♡

He and Steve had a wonderful night, kissing, touching, sucking. And Bucky thought, _This is amazing. This is enough._ But when he had to run back to the store the next day for new razor blades, he stopped in front of the condoms again. So he bought them.

They went out for lunch, and then went ten-pin bowling, where Steve kept accusing Bucky of going easy on him. Bucky swore he wasn’t, which was mostly true. Bucky had just scored a strike and turned around grinning to find that Steve wasn’t watching, he was staring at his phone. He glanced up. “Hey Buck?”

“Yeah?”

“Remember when I said I would take you out to the movies?”

How could he forget. “Of course.”

“Well, there’s a movie theatre in town. Wanna go out tonight?”

He grinned again. “Yes. Yes I do, definitely.”

Steve grinned back. “What do you want to see?” He handed the phone over so Bucky could scan the options. He was a bit disappointed by the choices.

“Um, can we see the new Dan Brown one?”

“Sure.”

Bucky didn’t usually admit to people he liked those books, but he was surprised to learn that Steve liked them too. Even if it was mostly just because there was a lot of stuff about art and Italy in them, and Steve had always wanted to visit Italy. 

“Maybe we could go there one day,” Bucky said. It came out less like a joke than he’d wanted it to. He forced a laugh out. But his insides were fluttering around like crazy. “Or maybe we could go to Spain and hike the Camino de Santiago.” He thought maybe appealing to Steve’s hiking interests might make him seem less forward. 

Steve smiled. “That would be nice.”

Instead of going out for dinner they just got nachos and a bunch of junky snacks at the theatre. Bucky liked the film, although he thought scientifically it made no sense. He said as much to Steve, whispering in his ear throughout the movie. Sometimes his friends or people he’d dated got mad at him when he did that, but Steve didn’t seem to mind. He made sure to brush his lips as close to Steve’s ear as he could, and at one point, he gave it the briefest of licks and blew cool air over it. He let himself giggle at the way Steve shuddered.

When they were back in their room, Bucky laid with his back resting on pillows against the headboard while he waited for Steve to finish brushing his teeth. When Steve emerged from the bathroom, he was completely naked. Bucky grinned at him and shimmied out of the underwear he was wearing and threw them on top of his pack.

Steve walked to the end of the bed and crawled up it until he was kneeling over Bucky. He leaned down to kiss him and Bucky lifted his head eagerly to accept it. Bucky snaked his hand between Steve’s legs and brushed his middle finger over his asshole, his other fingers grazing over the down around it. Steve pulled away and stared down at him in surprise.

 _I don’t have to say anything_ , he thought. He loved just rubbing up against Steve, their dicks aligned. Or sucking him. Maybe Steve would even let him put his finger in again. It was all good, and it was enough. But he figured now was his chance. 

He rubbed his finger over Steve’s asshole again. “You don’t have to,” he said hastily, “I mean, you don’t have to let me… but maybe… you could do me?” He didn’t want to pressure Steve into anything, but it might be less daunting for Steve if they did it this way the first time.

“Do you mean...?” Steve trailed off. He looked like he knew what Bucky meant.

“Do you want to fuck me?” Bucky said, feeling bolder.

Steve visibly gulped. “Okay.”

“You don’t have to. Please say if you don’t want to.”

“I want to,” Steve said breathlessly.

Hearing him say the words sent a shiver up Bucky’s spine. “Okay. Okay, um, there’s lube and condoms in my pack.”

Steve looked surprised, but he got off the bed and went over to Bucky’s pack. The items were right at the top. He gave Bucky a curious look. “How long have you been carrying this stuff around with you?”

“I only got them today,” he said, feeling self-conscious.

Steve brought them back to the bed. “Okay. You’ll, um, have to show me what to do.” Bucky nodded and scooted down the bed a little to make himself more comfortable. “Should I start with my fingers? Like the way you did to me?” Steve asked.

“Yeah, exactly.”

“Okay.” Steve settled back on his haunches and gently knocked Bucky’s knees apart. He squirted a dollop of lube on his finger and reached down. He pressed so lightly Bucky could barely feel it.

“You won’t hurt me, Steve. Press harder, it feels good.” Steve nodded and pushed the tip of his finger inside. He moved it around a bit, then pushed in further. He continued this pattern until he was all the way in. “Add another finger,” Bucky said. Steve pulled out and added more lube, this time to both his index and middle finger. He found more resistance this time, but he massaged around the entrance until he could slip them in. It was starting to feel really good and it didn’t take long for Bucky to want another finger. 

After Steve had been fucking him with three fingers for several minutes, he couldn’t take it any longer. “I’m ready,” he said. Steve pulled his fingers out and Bucky sat up, moving to get onto his hands and knees.

“Wait,” Steve said, grabbing his arm. “Don’t turn over.”

“It’ll be easier this way.”

“But I want to see your face.”

Bucky’s heart clenched at that. He smiled. “Okay.” He grabbed one of the pillows and put it underneath his hips, wriggling around so that he was situated just right for Steve. “Okay.”

Steve opened the box of condoms and took one out. He carefully removed it from the wrapper and slowly rolled it on with shaking hands. “Use some more lube,” Bucky said. Steve picked up the bottle and poured a generous amount out, then slicked it over his straining dick. Bucky spread his legs wider and bent his knees, trying to get into the most convenient position for Steve, and waited. 

Steve moved forward and leaned over Bucky, one hand by Bucky’s side holding himself up on the bed and the other guiding himself towards Bucky’s entrance. “Steve,” Bucky begged, and then Steve was pushing inside him. He could see the concentration on Steve’s face as he tried not to push in all at once. But Bucky was ready for him. He’d never been more ready. “Come on, Steve.”

Steve glanced up at him and pushed the rest of the way in. “Okay?” He looked unsure, and Bucky reached out and ran his fingertips over Steve’s arm. Steve slowly pulled out, then pushed back in again at a quicker pace. He gasped and looked up at Bucky in surprise, as if he hadn’t been expecting it to feel so good. 

He leaned back and grabbed onto Bucky’s hips, his knees pushing slightly underneath Bucky. He thrust in and out again, faster, and Bucky moaned. He planted one foot on the bed over Steve’s thigh, holding his hips up a bit, but he wrapped the other around Steve’s back, letting it slide down, and massaged Steve’s butt cheek with his heel. The next time Steve pulled out, Bucky used his heel to pull Steve back in harder. 

He would’ve liked to be on his knees so he could properly push back, meeting Steve’s every thrust. Or maybe even riding him. But he liked it this way too, he liked watching the pleasure so obviously painted on Steve’s face. He wanted it to be good for him. 

“Wow,” Steve puffed out. “This feels, wow.” He moved his hands up Bucky’s thighs and readjusted his body. Bucky was about to suggest they shift to the edge of the bed where Steve might find it easier to move, but Steve urged Bucky’s knees even wider and grabbed underneath his thighs, using them to pull himself in faster. “Buck, you feel so good.”

“You feel good too,” Bucky said.

“Really?” 

“Yeah, it feels so fucking good.” He moaned.

Steve slowed to really look at Bucky’s face, maybe to see if Bucky was telling the truth. “Maybe next time–” he stopped.

“Whenever you’re ready, we can do it that way too,” Bucky said.

Steve nodded, then he looked down. He watched as he slowly pulled his dick out and pushed it back in again, awe on his face. He watched as he thrust in faster and faster. He moaned and closed his eyes, tilting his head back, then opened them as if remembering that very moment that he’d wanted to see Bucky. “I don’t know how much longer I’m gonna last, Buck. Sorry.”

“Okay.” He reached down and wrapped his hand around himself. He started jerking himself in time with Steve’s thrusts. “Don’t be sorry.” Steve laughed a little and Bucky smiled. He reached out and covered Bucky’s working hand with his own, clenching his fingers. Bucky was getting close himself. He pressed his feet down again and lifted his hips, and that’s when Steve hit just the right spot. He yelled out in pleasure. Steve hit the spot again and he was climaxing with a guttural moan. 

Steve exhaled with relief, as if he’d just been given permission to come too, and he did, trembling. He leaned over Bucky gasping for a moment, clutching Bucky’s legs, before pulling out and getting rid of the condom. He lay down beside Bucky and they kissed lazily. “Wow,” Steve whispered.

Finally, Bucky pulled away. “I think we need another shower.”

“Yeah,” Steve said, and let Bucky pull him to his feet and lead him to the bathroom. He turned the tap on and put his hand under the spray, waiting for it to warm up, then he offered Steve his hand and helped him into the tub. He grabbed the tiny bar of soap and rubbed it between his hands, working up a lather. Then he ran his hands over Steve’s body. He liked having an excuse to again have his hands all over Steve.

After Bucky had washed himself, he wasn’t ready to get out and go to bed. “Hey, why don’t we fill up the tub?”

“Okay,” Steve said. So Bucky turned off the shower spray, put the plug in and turned on the tap for the tub. Once there was a couple of inches in there, he sat down and urged Steve to sit between his bent legs. When the bath was full to their satisfaction, Bucky leaned back and Steve did too, his back against Bucky’s chest. He wondered if Steve could feel his heart hammering. 

They didn’t say anything, just quietly relaxed in the warm water. Bucky gently paddled the water around in front of them with his hands, so the warmth was always covering Steve’s exposed shoulders. Steve yawned. 

Bucky finally pulled him out of the water when it had turned tepid and their fingers and toes were pruning. Steve fell asleep as soon as his head hit the pillow but Bucky was still too wired up, so he watched Steve sleep. He was on his stomach with one arm awkwardly stuck out to the side, his head was almost at a ninety degree angle from his body and he drooled into the pillow. It was amusing to Bucky how serene he looked in repose, when awake he was the furthest thing from serene one could imagine. Gutsy and high-strung. 

Bucky pondered how strange it was that that image conjured something so tender inside of him he thought he might burst with it.

♡

The next day, when they were back on the trail, Bucky’s mood was more withdrawn than normal. As he strolled through the New England Aster, he relived the night before over and over in his mind – making himself hard more than once. But it wasn’t just that it had felt so good physically. He’d felt so close to Steve. He liked that Steve had wanted to face him. Maybe he was reading too much into it, but he felt it was significant. And then their shower and bath afterward, it had been so intimate. He let himself hope that maybe Steve wanted something more than just a fling too.

Somehow, though Bucky was glad of it, they never caught up to Thor again, even though he’d been walking at such a slothful pace. It was a mystery.

**Vermont**

They were about to set up their tent when Steve stopped and said, “Let’s keep walking.”

“What?”

“I want to keep walking. All night. It’s a full moon tonight, we’ll be able to see where we’re going.”

Bucky thoroughly did not expect Steve to want to continue after a nineteen mile day. But they did have to make up some time. “It’s a full moon?” he said. “No wonder you’re acting weird.”

“Please?”

As if he could say no.

After they ate their meals and rested for a while, they packed up the gear they’d used and started walking again. They put their headlamps on but didn’t need to turn them on quite yet. They were walking up a mountain and the trees were sparse, so there was still enough light to see. The sun had set, but there was still a rich yellow in the distance, just above treeline.

As Bucky walked, he warmed to the idea. He had to admit there was something kind of magical about walking along in the moonlight. He half expected fairies and nymphs to dart out and fly around him. He looked up at the sky and watched as a shooting star sailed through its static and twinkling brothers and sisters. 

They came to a cliff that looked out over a pond. The sky was royal blue, and the pond glowed with the reflection from the moon. It was beautiful, and they just stood there mesmerised by it. Steve reached out and took Bucky’s hand. Bucky squeezed it back. 

He turned to look at Steve and was reminded of their time in New York, when they had watched the fireworks and the lights had sparkled in his eyes. Bucky decided he didn’t want to walk any more that evening. He silently took his pack off, then turned and unclipped Steve’s pack. Out of his reverie, Steve gave Bucky a curious look, but he didn’t stop Bucky from helping him to take his pack off. Bucky took their unneeded headlamps off and dropped them on top of the packs.

He stood behind Steve and wrapped his arms around his waist, holding him close, his chin resting on Steve’s shoulder. Steve let his hands fall to where Bucky’s were clasped. Bucky pulled one hand away while letting the other intertwine with Steve’s fingers. He pulled the neck of Steve’s t-shirt away and kissed his shoulder, moving his lips along until they reached Steve’s neck and then up to the space behind Steve’s ear. He felt Steve’s shiver vibrate on his lips. 

Steve turned around and grabbed Bucky’s jaw, firmly pressing their lips together. Bucky slowly knelt to the ground, pulling Steve with him, but only parting his lips from Steve’s when they were kneeling. He turned to their packs, pulled their sleeping bags out, and laid them on the ground.

Steve immediately lay down on his back and stared up at Bucky, waiting. Bucky lay down beside him and they wrestled to get Steve’s shirt off. Once he was bare, Bucky kissed every sinew in his lean frame, every joint, every inch of Steve’s body. He spelled Steve’s name by tonguing it into his skin.

He couldn’t think of a moment in his life that was more perfect than being with Steve like this under the moonlight. It felt like they were the only two people in the world.

♡

It had rained the previous night but seemed to be clearing up. The sun shone through the trees crisply. The earth smelled wet and mulchy. Bucky was wary of the slick surface of the trail. He was always aware of anything that might cause harm to Steve. Including Bucky’s own overwhelming feelings for him.

Every day the inkling of foreboding he had got just a little bit bigger as they got closer and closer to Mount Katahdin. There were times when Bucky felt like Steve really might want to be with him after the trail. Steve had been the one to suggest they go on a proper date. And when he’d fucked Bucky he wanted to see his face. Bucky thought about that a lot. But those things didn’t mean that’s what he wanted when they went back to the lives they had before. 

They stopped to eat a hot lunch of pasta sides. Bucky found some ramps to add to them while Steve sat stirring them. For some reason, Bucky’s got a little burnt on the bottom. 

“Here, have mine,” Steve said, but Bucky refused.

“It’s fine” he said, taking big mouthfuls. “But when we get out of here, I’m gonna have to teach you how to cook.” He studied Steve’s face. He didn’t look freaked out like he had when Bucky had said the thing about Buck Rogers and marriage. He wasn’t laughing either though. He just looked normal and continued eating his food. If only Bucky could read minds.

♡

“Hey Buck, can we get a motel room tonight? I’m ready for a night’s sleep in a bed.”

Bucky turned around. “Of course. Steve you can always tell me if your back’s bothering you. Maybe I could carry your pack for a while?”

“It’s fine. I just feel like sleeping in a bed.” They made their way to the roadside and hitched a ride into Rutland. They found a delicatessen and ate fresh sandwiches of cold cuts and salad. Steve had a drop of mayonnaise at the side of his mouth so Bucky wiped it away with his thumb. He sucked the condiment away while Steve just laughed and said, “You and your mayonnaise.” He noticed that Steve didn’t look around to make sure no one was watching, as he’d done in the past when Bucky had been overly affectionate in public. 

They found an insalubrious motel to stay in, within their price range but close enough to the main thoroughfare. They did their laundry, then made preparations for a shopping trip. Bucky looked on his phone for the most convenient place to go and noticed there was a movie theatre nearby. “There’s a movie theatre near the Walmart,” he told Steve. “We have to get supplies there anyway. Want to go on another movie date?”

Steve smiled. “Sure.”

Bucky really wanted to reach out and grab Steve’s hand when they were walking to the movie theatre. He didn’t. But when they were sitting down and the lights were dimmed, he took Steve’s hand in his, and Steve didn’t move it away until the movie was over. 

When they were back at the motel with their supplies, Steve collapsed onto the bed and Bucky went into the bathroom to brush his teeth. When he came out, Steve was fast asleep. 

He couldn’t really feel disappointed, Steve always looked so sweet when he was sleeping.

♡

He awoke very early with Steve’s arm over his bare chest, caressing the side of his torso. Bucky’d gone to sleep in only his underwear but he remembered Steve being fully clothed. Now when he glanced down he saw Steve was naked. He rubbed at his eyes, wiping away the sleep to see better.

When Steve noticed Bucky was awake he moved his hand lower, looking to Bucky for permission. Bucky nodded and Steve moved his hand over the bulge in Bucky’s underwear, brushing his fingers over and furthering Bucky’s morning erection. He clasped him through the cloth and stroked him with a firm grip. Bucky’s back arched, and his toes pointed as the muscles in his legs tensed from the pleasure. 

“Do you like that?” Steve asked. He’d never said anything like that while they’d been fooling around before. 

Bucky chuckled, but tried not to sound like he was laughing at him. “You know I do.” Then he added, “It feels amazing.” He was fully hard now and there was a wet patch developing on the fabric of his underwear. He couldn’t keep his hips still.

Steve sat up and leaned over Bucky to kiss him. For how surly Steve could be sometimes, he was still the sweetest kisser, even with morning breath. Just as Bucky was really getting into the kiss, Steve pulled away. He moved along Bucky’s body until he settled at his waist. He leaned down and licked where the tip of Bucky’s dick had peeked out of the waistband. 

Steve slowly pulled the underwear down, revealing Bucky’s dick inch by inch, kissing the exposed skin as he did. Bucky already knew once Steve got his mouth around him he’d probably explode. Steve licked his way up and around the tip and Bucky gasped. “Oh god.” Once into Steve’s mouth and he was rambling, “God Steve, you’re so good, ah.”

Steve pulled off and smirked up and him. His orgasm having been thwarted, Bucky grunted with impatience and narrowed his eyes at Steve. “Come here.” Steve didn’t resist and let Bucky manhandle him until he was straddling Bucky’s waist, his upper body hovering over Bucky’s as he held himself up by his arms. 

Bucky wrapped his hand around both of them and began stroking. Steve moved his hands to Bucky’s chest and jerked his hips forward. Bucky watched as he threw his head back and closed his eyes, his mouth open in an obscene pant as he continued to thrust. His exposed neck begged for kisses but he was too far away. Bucky reached out his free hand to run it over Steve’s chest. He circled his thumb around Steve’s nipple, eliciting a whimper.

Bucky came first, but continued his movements, though it was almost too much for him. The slipperiness of his release helped him jerk Steve with more vigour. He let his own dick fall away and wrapped his other hand around Steve as well. Steve thrust into Bucky’s fist with abandon, giving more voice to his pleasure, moaning, saying Bucky’s name, “Yes,” until he gave one final thrust and yelled out as he came. He fell on top of Bucky, and when he’d caught his breath, he kissed him lazily and wetly. Bucky could probably kiss Steve forever if given the chance. But Steve pulled away first. 

He gave Bucky a shy look. “I’m going to have a shower. Want to join me?”

Bucky nodded eagerly. They squeezed together into the shower and rinsed off each other’s bellies. When Steve went to pick up the shampoo, Bucky batted his hand away and grabbed the bottle himself. He ordered Steve to turn around, then dropped a dollop onto his head and began massaging. Steve moaned appreciatively. “You’re too good to me.”

But Bucky didn’t think so. He enjoyed caring for Steve. He wanted to do it forever.

“I’ll do yours now,” Steve said, when his hair was rinsed clean. Bucky knew it wouldn’t be very comfortable for Steve to have reach up to wash his hair, but he knew Steve wanted to return the favour, so he sat on the edge of the tub. The mildewy shower curtain stuck to his lower back but he didn’t care. 

When Steve had washed Bucky’s hair, Bucky wound his arms around Steve’s waist and pulled him close. Steve ran his hands up Bucky’s neck and onto his hair, circling his thumbs into the scalp, gentler than the touch he’d just used with the shampoo. Bucky pressed his face into Steve’s stomach and kissed the wet skin. Even though he wasn’t saying anything, he wondered if Steve could tell how deep his feelings for him were. He felt as if his arms were locked in position and he couldn’t ever let go of Steve.

But eventually he did. He smiled at Steve as they finished off in the shower, but he worried it might not seem genuine. Because although he was filled with happiness, he also felt sad. Like the end to his happiness was looming closer, and it wouldn’t let him completely enjoy the moment. The fear of losing it all was always hanging over him and he couldn’t ignore it.

They got dressed and got their packs ready to go. “Hang on, we have to go to the store again. I need more toilet paper,” Steve said.

“Just take the spare roll from the bathroom.”

Steve looked scandalised. “I can’t do that.”

“It’s no big deal, Steve. I do it all the time. I’m sure they even expect it.”

“I don’t think so.”

“It’s there for us to use,” Bucky said. “What difference does it make?”

“It’s there for us to use while we’re here, not to take,” Steve said.

“Fine then. _I’ll_ take the toilet paper and I’ll let you have what I’ve got leftover.”

“No.”

Bucky got the feeling Steve was now just being stubborn for the sake of it and it wasn’t even worth bickering over. But it seemed like such a small thing for him to be so argumentative about. Was it because he was upset with Bucky? Maybe because of the shower. Bucky knew he’d been too clingy. 

It frustrated Bucky that Steve was so guarded when it came to sharing his feelings. It was part of the reason Bucky was so terrified of saying anything himself, because he couldn’t figure out how Steve would react. When they fooled around it was great, and Steve could be so uninhibited in those moments. But maybe that’s all it was to Steve. Maybe he just liked having sex with Bucky but didn’t want anything more. 

Bucky made a big show of taking the spare toilet roll from under the sink anyway and putting it in his pack. Steve put his pack on and silently went outside to wait for him. 

Of course, at the store there weren’t any single rolls of toilet paper available for purchase, a four pack was the smallest. So they then had to find the hostel where the hiker box was to leave the other three rolls for some lucky person.

Bucky sifted through the hiker box looking at the food. He knew Steve was tired of hiker food and wanted to see if he could find something interesting for him to eat. There was oatmeal – because there was always oatmeal – and granola bars. “What’s this?” Bucky said, pulling out an unlabelled ziplock bag.

Steve eyed it suspiciously. “I don’t know.”

“I think it’s a soup mix? I’m gonna take it.”

“Do you really think that’s a good idea?” Steve asked. But his stubbornness must have been rubbing off on Bucky, because it suddenly became a very good idea. 

“Yes, I do.” He shoved the bag in his pocket.

They spent the day annoyed with each other, hiking further apart than they usually did. They stopped to have dinner at around five so they could night hike for a while. Bucky had suggested it to make up some time and Steve agreed. Then Bucky felt annoyed that Steve would have agreed anyway, even if he didn’t want to do it. 

Bucky pulled out the packet of soup mix and dumped it into his pot of boiling water. “Are you sure you don’t want to try this Steve?”

“Yes. And I don’t think you should either.”

Bucky ignored him and stirred the mixture around, watching the water turn an unappetizing shade of brown. After a while the mixture congealed into a gelatinous substance. Maybe it wasn’t soup mix after all, though it looked like it had dehydrated peas and lentils in it. Maybe he’d just put too much in and it needed more water. Bucky guessed it was done anyway, so he took it off the stove and waited for it to cool a bit. He sunk his spoon into whatever it was and dug a hearty amount out.

He held the spoonful in front of his face and glanced at Steve who was watching him anxiously. He put it in his mouth and chewed. It had a slightly beefy taste. Not terrible. And there definitely were dried vegetables in it. He had another bite. 

He got through about half of the substance before he gave up. It wasn’t bad, but it wasn’t good either, and the jellylike texture was starting to make him gag. “Are you sure you don’t want any, Steve?”

“No thanks.”

“I’m just so full,” he lied. “It seems like such a waste to get rid of it.”

“I’m fine.”

He dug a cathole and buried the stuff there. Where it belonged. 

An hour later he started to feel funny. At first he thought it was all in his head, that Steve had just made him paranoid about it. But then his mouth got that weird feeling… like it knew what was about to come. He swallowed it down and continued walking. Then the weird feeling came back suddenly and much more intensely, and a few seconds later, he ran off the trail and barfed.

“Bucky!” Steve ran after him. Bucky wanted to tell him to go away, but he couldn’t because he was barfing again. It came out of his nose and his eyes watered. Steve placed his hand on Bucky’s head and gently rubbed back and forth. He handed Bucky a clean bandana for him to wipe his face. He stood up but didn’t turn around to look at Steve. He felt like the world’s biggest moron. 

“Come on,” Steve said kindly. He put his arm through Bucky’s and guided him back to the trail. “Let’s find somewhere to camp.”

They walked for another ten minutes or so before they found a nice flat spot. Steve did most of the setting up of the tent. Bucky kept having to sit down, doubled over by the pain in his gut. 

Steve helped him into his camp clothes and sleeping bag and made him drink a bottle of water. “Promise me you will never eat unidentifiable items from the hiker box ever again?”

Bucky groaned. “I promise.”

 **New Hampshire**

It was always Bucky’s job to yogi food from day hikers, Steve was terrible at it. He was also still unsure about the morality of it, but Bucky had no qualms whatsoever. “Steve, they’re giving us the food voluntarily.”

“Yeah, but they probably wouldn’t if we didn’t go over and talk about how hungry we are.”

“So you’re saying it’s a question of free will?”

“I guess so.”

“But of course they’re not going to give us any food if we don’t imply we want some. What are we supposed to do, just stand there looking sad?”

“Maybe we just shouldn’t take food from day hikers at all?”

“Forget that. I’m hungry.”

They were walking across a grassy field when they came across a couple, maybe in their forties, having a picnic. They looked wonderful. White t-shirts, khaki shorts, a gingham blanket and wicker basket. Quintessentially American. Bucky thought he and Steve would look good sitting there. 

“Hello!” Bucky said cheerfully as they walked closer. 

“Hi,” the couple said, looking uncertain. It was understandable. Steve and Bucky looked pretty awful. Dirty and skinny. And they smelled bad.

“We’re hiking the Appalachian Trail. New Hampshire is our thirteenth state.”

“Oh, the Appalachian Trail, I’ve heard of that,” the man said.

“Yeah, it can be pretty tough. We’re carrying everything we have on our backs.” He stepped a little closer. “Wow, that food looks amazing. We’re basically living off raman, aren’t we Steve?”

“Uh huh,” Steve grunted noncommittally. 

“Oh! Here, have a sandwich,” the woman said and held out a container of sandwiches, made with baguettes, with turkey and some kind of fancy cheese. Bucky crouched down and grabbed one, and Steve did too, unable to resist. They were gone in an instant.

“Thanks,” Bucky said, smiling at the woman. He breathed in her scent as inconspicuously as possible. Day hikers always smelled good but she particularly did, like coconuts, and he said so. She laughed, but her partner didn’t seem to find it as funny. 

Bucky wasn’t done yet though, and she seemed to be in charge of the picnic basket. He knew how to get food from people without explicitly asking. “How far is the next town? Do you think any restaurants will be open by the time we get there?”

“We have plenty of food. Here, have something else.” She had containers with watermelon slices, cold chicken, and potato salad. She wrapped up about five cookies each in a napkin for them to take with them. 

Bucky chatted away with the couple, mostly the woman, since she was more receptive. The man looked like he wished they would leave. He had jealousy in his eyes, and when Bucky looked at Steve he noticed he didn’t look too happy either. Eventually, when they’d eaten over half of what the picnickers had, they moved on.

“Did you have to flirt with her so much?” Steve said when they were out of earshot. “Her husband was right there.”

“I got us some good stuff didn’t I?” He realised then that maybe _Steve_ was jealous. The thought sent a thrill through him. He hoped that’s what it was.

♡

Before they starting on their hike up Mount Cube, they caught up to two thru-hikers they hadn’t met before. They said their names were Phoenix and Wasp. Bucky thought they were both very pretty, especially Phoenix. Bucky wanted to chat with them for a little longer, but Steve was frowning at him and impatiently inching further away. Bucky thought he was about to bolt off down the trail any second.

Bucky wasn’t exactly in any hurry. He’d been dreading the White Mountains. They were extremely difficult to traverse. The weather could change without warning, and the alpine climate meant it could get very cold. There were snowfalls on Mount Washington every month of the year. The risk of hypothermia was high, which made him very worried for Steve, who got cold easily. 

It also meant they were getting closer to the end. And Bucky was resistant. 

The girls were laughing as they sipped from their water bottles and chewed on protein bars while Bucky told them the story of the hiker box ‘soup mix’ incident.

“Buck,” Steve said. “Shouldn’t we get going?”

“Yeah. Are you guys coming up?”

“Yep, we’ll be right behind you.” And they were, for the first hour or so, but then they started to fall behind. Steve was climbing up like a machine. It was really steep, and even Bucky was struggling a bit to keep up. He was worried Steve would overdo it and injure himself, although Bucky had started making them stretch a lot more every morning. After Steve’s accident, he was more conscious of the risks of being taken off the trail due to injury, and he certainly wanted to prevent any overuse problems if he could. 

“Steve, what’s the hurry?”

“I just,” Steve huffed, “want to get up and over.”

Bucky sighed. They had many more mountains ahead of them, Bucky didn’t see the point of rushing. But maybe Steve was getting that feeling a lot of thru-hikers got – they could see the end and were eager to get there. The feeling Bucky didn’t have.

♡

It was a difficult day, climbing Mount Moosilauke. The entire trail seemed to be made entirely out of rocks, which made them walk twice as slow. They had to be careful not to trip and fall.

“How the fuck can they call this a trail?” Bucky said. Steve looked resigned and kept climbing. Bucky longed for some switchbacks. Everything hurt, his back, his knees. In fact, his entire legs right down to his toes. Even his ass hurt. But they continued on. They got so high up they were in the clouds. Bucky kept worrying about Steve. If it was this hard for him, surely it was difficult for Steve. But he should have known if nothing else Steve would make it out of sheer determination alone.

The trees melted away from the terrain, and there was not much but shrub and rock. It was cold and they had to stop to put more clothes on. Eventually they made it to the grassy meadow at the top. Their first mountain in the Whites, but Bucky didn’t feel very celebratory about it. It was very windy, and they couldn’t even see very much due to the clouds.

As painful as it had been to climb up all those rocks, it was so much worse climbing down the other side, and they were slippery too. Bucky slipped and fell on his butt, luckily without injuring himself. He complained the whole way down.

“It’s not that bad, Buck,” Steve said.

“Oh, I’m sorry, are you living in some alternate reality right now?”

“Remember what you said? It’s always worth it, right?”

“That was before I got to New Hampshire.” Steve was about to say something else but suddenly as he took a step his foot slipped from underneath him and he fell back, yelling instead. “Steve!” Bucky rushed back up the rocks to where Steve was sprawled. 

“I’m okay,” he said, gazing up at Bucky who was hovering over him.

“Are you really, or are you just saying that?”

“I really am.” He sat up and pulled himself to his feet. As if to prove it to Bucky, who wasn’t looking convinced, he carefully started down the trail again.

“Well, okay,” Bucky said, and then he slipped in the exact same place. “Goddamnit!”

Steve turned around and started laughing. “You should be more careful,” he said.

“ _You should be more careful_ ,” Bucky mimicked, giving Steve a dirty look. “Ow, my ass is going to be so bruised tomorrow. And not in a good way.”

“Bucky!” Steve reprimanded. 

“What?”

“I–” He laughed. “I can’t believe you said that.”

Bucky grinned, probably for the first time that day. He stopped himself before he told Steve that only he was allowed to give Bucky’s ass a bruising. He didn’t want Steve to faint and fall off a cliff. 

Collectively, they fell on their butts three more times before they reached the bottom.

♡

Another day, another mountain. Their mileage had slowed considerably since entering White Mountain National Forest. Bucky woke up every day with stiff muscles, but luckily they loosened up throughout the morning. The mountain they climbed that day was practically vertical. They had to tie their trekking poles to their packs and use their hands to haul themselves up. Heights weren’t Bucky’s favourite thing, but he didn’t say anything to Steve about it. He was always in awe of how fearless Steve was. He wanted to be like that too.

By mid-afternoon, ominous clouds were forming overhead. As they made their way down, it started to rain heavily and then they heard thunder. “Shit,” Bucky said. They couldn’t see much of the sky, but it was evident they were hiking in the middle of a thunderstorm and were at risk of being struck by lightning.

Bucky wanted to get down the mountain as fast as they could but with it raining, it was even more dangerous. At least there were tall trees around. At last, the rocks thinned out, and the trail had stretches of earth they could run down. 

They decided to push on until they got to a tentsite that had elevated platforms for them to camp on, praying there would be space for them. They handed over their $10 each. Bucky didn’t even bother asking if they were offering a work-for-stay. He was exhausted. 

The temperature had dropped dramatically. When they were in their sleeping bags, Bucky snuggled up to Steve, which he would do anyway, but this time he hoped his body heat would seep over and keep Steve warm. He pulled his arm out and wrapped it over Steve’s middle, laying his head on Steve’s chest. 

It got dark very early as the rain continued to pour down. “Are you asleep?” Steve asked.

“No.”

“Have you thought any more about the army?”

Bucky froze. Why was Steve bringing this up now? He hadn’t really been thinking about that at all. He’d thought he would have figured out what he was going to do in the months and months of walking with nothing to do but think. But he hadn’t. He was too wrapped up in this thing with Steve. Or he was purposely ignoring it.

He rolled away. It wasn’t just that he didn’t want to kill anyone, because he definitely didn’t. “I'm afraid of dying,” he whispered, ashamed. He turned his face away from Steve’s, though it was too dark for him to see anyway.

“Hey, come on, Buck.” Steve pulled his arm out from his sleeping bag and reached over to grab Bucky’s shoulder. “I’m sorry. You already told me you didn’t want to do it, I shouldn't have said anything.”

“Is it because you think I should?”

Steve was quiet for a moment. “No,” he said decidedly. “No. I don’t. I’ve just been thinking a lot about… when this is over. I wondered if you’ve been thinking about it too.”

“What do you plan to do when it’s over?” Bucky asked.

“Go back to school, I guess.”

What Bucky really wanted to ask was, what would they mean to each other when this was all over? He didn’t. And his sleep was restless that night.

♡

Franconia Ridge was actually quite wonderful. Miles and miles above treeline. It was tough, there was always another mountain to climb. The wind was so fierce it nearly blew them away. The whole time Bucky was scared the weather would change. He personally didn’t mind hiking in snow, but being caught up there did not appeal to him. But it did have amazing views.

At the top of Mount Lafayette, when he took a moment to really look, he forgot his worries. Mountains for miles and miles. He was so high up, so tall, but he felt small when everything around him was so big. He watched as the clouds floated by, making dark green spots over the trees below. 

He waited for Steve at the top. When he arrived they sat beside each other on a big rock. Closer than they needed to be given the space around them. Or maybe it was because of the space around them that they needed to be close, to know the other was still there. To know they weren’t alone. They sat like that for a long time.

♡

They stealth camped below Mount Washington, planning to summit the next day. They were excited, if only because they were looking forward to the visitor centre and restaurant. There would be bathrooms where they could at least wash their hands and face with warm water.

Sometime that day Bucky’s sunblock had exploded in his pack. He and Steve spent almost an hour cleaning it out, which mostly meant wiping the sunblock off the items in Bucky’s pack with their fingers and then wiping it onto themselves instead. Now he was rearranging his pack, trying to make it more orderly. 

Steve was already lying down in his sleeping bag. He said he was going to finally finish listening to _1776_ on audiobook. Bucky reached out and rubbed in a bit of sunblock by Steve’s ear that had been missed. He smiled up at Bucky in thanks.

Bucky stared down at him. He couldn’t think of a single place he would rather be, despite the sunblock mishap and the gruelling landscape. “I love you,” he said.

Steve pulled the buds out of his ears. “Hmm?”

“Nothing. I was just saying you look cute.”

Steve rolled his eyes and chuckled, putting the bud back into his ear. 

In the dark, they lay in their sleeping bags close enough to snuggle. Bucky spooned around Steve and pressed his nose into the nape of Steve’s neck. His scent, his unwashed hair, the lingering smell of soap on his skin was intoxicating to him. Who the hell smelled like soap on a thru-hike? Steve Rogers. And most likely only Steve Rogers.

And then the lightheaded feeling was suddenly overshadowed when he came back to reality. This would end. And then what? Would they just go back to their lives? Was there any chance this meant as much to Steve as it did to him?

“I don’t know if I’ll ever want to eat peanut butter again after this,” Steve said jokingly, pulling Bucky out of his thoughts.

“I will... but only if it’s off your body,” Bucky said. He chuckled for a moment, before realising that once again, he’d referenced having some type of relationship with Steve after the trail. 

“Hmm,” was all Steve said, and he yawned. Bucky wished he knew what he was thinking. He’d thought about just asking Steve how he felt, many times, because it wasn’t like he wanted to be with someone who couldn’t love him back the same way. But he was afraid that was the answer he would get, and if it was, he didn’t want to hear it quite yet.

♡

It was early morning when they descended Mount Moriah. At first they couldn’t see a thing, except for a few yards in front of them. But then it cleared, just leaving the mist around the tree tops. Although New Hampshire was kicking their asses, it was beautiful.

As they made their way down, Bucky’s shoe suddenly sunk into mud up to his knee. He nearly fell forward but saved himself with his trekking poles. “You’re fucking kidding me.” The look of pure disdain on his face had Steve laughing. He made Bucky stay in the mud so he could take a picture. “You’re a sadist,” Bucky said, but his lips twitched in a smirk.

“It serves you right. You’re always taking pictures of me looking like an idiot.”

“You never look like an idiot. You look adorable.” The mud was seeping into his shoe. “Can I get out now?”

“Yes,” Steve said. “Are you sure your trail name isn’t Charlie Brown?”

“Very funny,” he said harshly, as he pulled his foot from the mud.

Steve’s face fell. “Sorry, Buck, I was just joking.”

Bucky looked up from inspecting his mud covered leg. “Hey, me too, come on.” He stuck his foot out and shook it in Steve’s direction. Steve jumped away and grinned again. 

When they got to Gorham, they headed straight for the all-you-can-eat Chinese buffet they’d heard about. Bucky stuffed his face while Steve was a bit more restrained – he was still wary about making himself sick at buffet restaurants.

Bucky ate so much he started sweating. His stomach ached – not an unusual occurrence. He had to lie down on a park bench for at least half an hour afterwards, clutching his stomach while Steve wandered around town, going to the post office and generally being sensible.

The next day, it would be onwards to Maine. Their last state. There was a pit in Bucky’s stomach that had nothing to do with his lunch. 

**Maine**

When they crossed the state line to Maine, Steve remarked that they had officially walked from Georgia to Maine.

“It’s pretty amazing,” Bucky said, though he didn’t know what to feel. “You should be proud.”

“You should too,” Steve said. But the only thing Bucky could feel was that he missed Steve already, even though they were standing side by side.

One thing Bucky was looking forward to about Maine was that it wasn’t New Hampshire any more. Unfortunately, the trail seemed to be just as difficult, especially when they got to the boulders at Mahoosuc Notch, notoriously the hardest part of the trail. 

They climbed up and over rocks, underneath rocks, through claustrophobic tunnels. They slid down rocks on their asses. Bucky had scrapes all over his knees. Steve’s hands were bleeding. When Steve slipped slightly on a rock, Bucky overreacted. “Careful!” he screamed. Steve gave Bucky a scornful look, and Bucky apologised.

“What the hell. There’s still more.” So they continued to climb the punishing rocks. “Jesus fucking christ,” Bucky said.

“Bucky! Would you stop?”

Bucky didn’t apologise that time. He just shut his mouth and maneuvered his way through a cave. He turned to watch Steve crawl through and saw that on his hands and knees, with the pack pressing down on his back, Steve was having a lot of trouble. 

“Pass me your pack,” Bucky said. 

“No, I got it.”

Steve emerged, and they started up another stack of boulders. “Take my hand,” Bucky said. Steve grabbed it and hauled himself up. Then Bucky made a huge mistake by saying, “Imagine if you’d had to do this by yourself?”

Steve snatched his hand away. “What?”

Bucky tried to backtrack. “I just meant, this would be hard for anyone to do alone.”

Steve narrowed his eyes. “I would have managed.”

They sat down to rest for a moment, and then Steve said the weirdest thing. “You probably wish you had someone else with you. Maybe one of those girls.”

Bucky snapped his head up. “What girls?”

“Phoenix maybe.”

He studied Steve’s face. Steve refused to look him in the eye. “What the hell are you talking about? Why would I – are you upset I stopped to talk to them? That was weeks ago. We’ve met plenty of other hikers since then. I don’t get it.”

“Not just them. You’re always such a flirt,” Steve said childishly. 

Bucky laughed, he couldn’t help it. It was absurd that Steve was jealous. He definitely had no reason to be. But Bucky liked it. He liked that he could make Steve jealous. “I don’t mean to flirt with other people,” he said, because he really didn’t.

“You like redheads,” Steve pressed. 

“Yes, but I also like brunettes. Pink hair is cute too. And blonds, obviously.” He winked.

Steve didn’t look convinced. He hopped off the rock he was perched on. “I don’t understand you.”

Something about the conversation was nagging Bucky but he couldn’t figure it out. He felt like Steve was saying something without actually saying it. “Wait,” he said with realisation. “Is this because I’m bisexual, you think I just want to sleep with everyone?” 

Steve looked guilty and Bucky knew it must have been something he’d thought about. He wanted to tell Steve none of it really mattered anyway because _I only want you_ , but he was also angry. “That’s such a bullshit stereotype, you know.”

“I’m sorry,” Steve said. He looked sheepish, which Bucky thought he should.

“Steve, I find a lot of people attractive. It’s just the way I am. It doesn’t mean I want to fuck everyone on the planet.”

Steve cringed. “Really, Bucky. I’m sorry, it’s just–”

“I'm sorry I can’t be a goddamn saint like you, Steve. I flirt and steal toilet paper and stupidly eat things from the hiker box when I don’t know what they are. I curse – or blaspheme or _whatever_.” It was the first time they had really fought. They’d had plenty of spats but nothing with this much vitriol. Bucky registered that it was mostly coming from him, and he didn’t really know why. Because he loved Steve. He didn’t want to hurt him. He’d even promised Steve’s best friend he would never do that, which was maybe why he was getting angrier than he should, because it was just another of his fuck-ups. 

“Stop fucking judging me,” he finished, realising as he said it that that was why he’d reacted so badly. He didn’t want Steve to think of him poorly. He wanted Steve to love him. 

“I’m sorry, Bucky,” Steve said in a pleading voice. “I must be bisexual too, right? I mean, I’ve never thought about it before. I never… liked another man before you. But I must be.” Vulnerability shone in his eyes.

“Only you can decide that,” Bucky said. He felt his anger fade as he became aware he hadn’t been very sensitive to how Steve must be feeling; being with a guy was new to him. “I’m sorry too,” he said. Though he didn’t really feel like they’d resolved anything. When they had finally escaped the boulders, they looked for a place to stealth camp, finding a spot near a spring. They were physically and emotionally exhausted.

♡

They stood staring at it for a moment, then Steve started moving towards a narrow part of the river, but Bucky stopped him. “Hold on, Steve. The wider part will probably be shallower.”

“Oh.”

This was the biggest river they’d had to ford, with nothing there to aid them. Bucky liked to cross in sandals and not his trail runners so that he wouldn’t get blisters from wet shoes, but Steve seemed reluctant. “Maybe it’s better for you to keep them on. The grip will be better,” Bucky said.

Apparently, that made up Steve’s mind not to do that. “No. I’ll take them off.”

“I’ll carry your pack,” Bucky said.

“No, you won’t,” Steve said, irritation already in his voice.

Bucky stepped into the water and immediately felt the push of the current on his legs. It was cold too. He turned back to Steve and told him to face more upstream.

“I got it,” Steve said. 

Bucky rolled his eyes, he was getting a little tired of the giant chip on Steve’s shoulder. “Just take it slow,” he said.

“I got it, Bucky. Stop hovering around me.”

Bucky reached the other side and pressed his fingers to his temples. He’d had a headache all day that neither ibuprofen nor Tylenol had relieved. It was taking Steve forever to get across. He took a step back into the water, intending to go back and help him, but Steve gave him a murderous look. “I don’t need your help Bucky!”

“Fine!” Bucky yelled. He sat down and put his shoes on. Once he saw Steve was safely across, he turned around and stomped off into the trees. 

He stormed ahead of Steve, down the dark green tunnel that was the AT, not slowing down when he usually would. He could see there was yet another mountain coming up from the darkness ahead, so he finally stopped to take a break. He took his shoe off and fished out a stone that had been bothering him for the last mile. 

They’d been seeing a lot less people on the trail in Maine so he knew Steve would be the next person to appear. When Steve still hadn’t shown up after ten minutes, he started feeling like a real asshole. He anxiously watched the trail for him. He hoped Steve hadn’t aggravated his ankle trying to keep up.

He jumped up when Steve eventually came into sight. “Sorry,” he said, as soon as Steve was in earshot. They’d been saying that a lot lately. 

“No, I'm sorry.”

“No, I–”

“Bucky. Let me talk. I shouldn’t have treated you like that when you were only trying to help. I’ve been thinking about this a lot lately. I know I’m not good at accepting help. I don’t know why I’m like this… actually I do. People aren’t usually so nice to me, or eager to help. I’m used to doing things on my own. I guess I liked it that way too. I thought I didn’t need anyone and wanted to prove I didn’t.”

Just like that Bucky’s heart melted. Damn Steve and his ability to have that effect on him. Bucky would probably never be able to remain annoyed with him for anything. That scared him a little. It was such a raw feeling. 

“You don’t have to prove anything with me, Steve. There’s no shame in needing help sometimes. And I don’t try to help you because I think you _need_ it, I’d do the same for anybody.” Bucky wondered if maybe he had been going over the top a bit with worrying about Steve because of his own insecurity about losing him. “I know you’re capable, I just don’t like to see you struggle so I want to help. I,” he paused. “I care about you, so maybe I have been overprotective without realising.” 

Steve smiled. “I do need your help sometimes though. Maybe I could have made it this far without you. But maybe not. I’m glad I didn’t have to.”

“I’m glad I didn’t have to come this far without you either,” Bucky said. 

Bucky felt so much better as they started up the mountain. He was acutely aware of how pretty everything was. The moss, the trees. He pointed out rabbits and chipmunks to Steve. 

They stopped for a snack at the top. The sun was shining, and all they could see was nature for miles and miles. Bucky had always tried to see the best in people, and at the times he felt he couldn’t, he at least knew there was still beauty in the world. What they were seeing was proof of that. 

Bucky felt like time had stopped. He was amazed that so much had happened throughout the history of their country, but this all would have looked the same six hundred years ago. He almost wished it was six hundred years ago, where his life would be a whole lot simpler. But it was a fleeting thought. He glanced at Steve’s outstretched legs beside him, with their falling apart trail runners and dirty socks, and knew he wouldn’t give this up for anything. 

Even in the worst moments – like when it was raining – he didn’t want to be anywhere else. He felt at home on the trail. He loved the trail. He was grateful for every moment of it. And he was grateful for every moment with Steve. He was so thankful to the trail just for having met Steve. 

He pulled Steve’s hand into his, and when Steve smiled at him, he felt like he belonged.

♡

No one knew more than a thru-hiker what being gassy was like. It wasn’t unusual to hear people farting along the trail. And sharing a tent could be an unpleasant experience. Bucky pitied the couples who had naively chosen to share sleeping quilts.

Steve however, refused to fart in the tent because he thought it was impolite. He always went outside, even though Bucky could sometimes still hear him. But when Bucky had said he would do that too, Steve had promised he didn’t have to. He tried anyway, except when he was being really lazy.

They were in their tent after a long day of mountains. It wasn’t quite dark outside yet, but it was cold. The days were still warm but the mornings and nights were getting cooler. They had reached the two thousand mile mark the other day. Someone had made the large numbers out of branches beside the trail. Bucky hadn’t been very enthusiastic about it, though he tried not to let it show to Steve.

Bucky was sitting cross legged, reading _The Hitchhiker’s Guide to the Galaxy_ with his sleeping bag draped over his shoulders. Steve was lying in his sleeping bag looking through his guidebook when he farted. He immediately turned to Bucky with wide eyes. “Sorry.” 

Bucky laughed. “Finally feel comfortable enough to fart around me, Rogers?”

Steve’s cheeks turned pink. “It just happened.”

Bucky put his book down and lunged at Steve, grabbing him by the sides to tickle him.

“Stop! Bucky stop!” He laughed. “You’ll make me do it again!”

Bucky stopped tickling him and sat back. “Can you not even say the word ‘fart’?”

“Yes.”

“Yes you can’t, or yes you can?”

“I can.”

“Go on then.”

“Fart,” he said, and covered his face with his book. Bucky didn’t think anyone could look so adorable saying the word ‘fart’, unless they were under the age of five. It was a weird reason for his mood to pick up, but it did.

♡

Early in the morning they walked towards the Kennebec River. Dew sparkled on the leaves around them. Birds twittered happily. Bucky had been dreading Maine, but it was probably the most beautiful state they’d been to yet. He thought he would like to come back some day. He imagined going on hiking weekends with Steve to places like this.

They reached the river just after lunchtime and took the canoe ferry across. It had a white blaze painted on the bottom of it, so Steve wasn’t too concerned with the fact it was a part of the trail they weren’t actually walking across. He was still a ‘purist’.

In Caratunk, they stayed in a place that had a hot tub. They soaked in it for hours and had it all to themselves. Bucky had the suspicion it was because no one wanted to share the tub with two dirty thru-hikers, even though they had showered before they got in. But that was fine with him. His hands kept making their way to Steve’s crotch, hidden underneath the bubbles of the waterjets. Steve playfully batted his hand away laughing. “There are people around, Buck.” He inched away and Bucky moved closer. Steve moved to the other side of the tub so Bucky put his foot out and pushed it between Steve’s legs. He was hard.

“Bucky!” He pushed Bucky’s leg away. Bucky wasn’t sure if his face was pink from the heat of the pool or something else. 

“Sorry,” he said. Maybe he’d taken the game too far. 

“We should go back to our room now,” Steve said. Maybe not then. 

Bucky smirked. “Hmm, but it’s so nice here. I swear, I could stay here all night.”

“ _Bucky_ ,” Steve whined. “Come on.” He quickly got out of the tub and put his towel around his waist, strategically clasping it in front of his crotch. Bucky made no effort to get out of the tub. “Bucky, if you don’t get out of the tub, I’ll...”

“You’ll what?”

He lowered his voice, “I’ll just have to get off without you.”

That sent a tingle through Bucky’s spine that settled in his groin. He stood up. “We can’t have that. Unless I get to watch.” Steve didn’t say anything else. He turned on his heel and marched toward their room without waiting for Bucky.

When Bucky got to the room, he had to close the door faster than the road runner so no one passing by would catch the wanton sight of Steve. He had pushed the sheets down and was spread out on the bed, touching himself. 

“Jesus christ,” said Bucky. Steve didn’t even tell him off, he just moaned loudly and tilted his head back further, exposing his neck. Bucky let his towel and shorts fall to the floor and crawled onto the bed. Steve looked like he was expecting Bucky to touch him, but he didn’t. He was enjoying the scene too much. “Keep going,” he whispered.

Bucky kissed Steve’s ribs, hips, thighs, all the while Steve’s hand worked. “Yes,” he encouraged, “it feels good doesn’t it?”

Steve whimpered. He kissed Steve’s inner thighs, finally making his way up to Steve’s crotch. Still, his lips ignored Steve’s throbbing pink dick. He swiped his tongue over Steve’s balls and felt him shake as he came. His tastebuds flared, mouth watered, as he imagined the taste, so he lifted his head to swipe his tongue over the mess on Steve’s stomach.

“That was hot,” he said. “God, Steve, you’re unbelievable.” He lay his body over Steve’s and pushed his tongue into Steve’s mouth, grinding his hips down as he did. Steve kissed him back feverishly, before pushing him off and onto his back. He wrapped his hand around Bucky’s dick and started pumping. 

“Hey, I can’t have you do all the work,” Bucky said.

“I like working,” Steve said. Bucky had to laugh at that. He fondled Bucky’s balls – something he’d been doing ever since Bucky first did it to him. He moved down Bucky’s body, settling between his legs. He jerked Bucky a bit more and ran his thumb over the slit before taking it into his mouth. He focussed on the tip of Bucky’s dick while he gently stroked him. He twisted his tongue around it, driving Bucky crazy. He became so engrossed that his hand stopped moving. Then he pulled off, moving his head down so he could suck Bucky’s balls.

Bucky moaned. “Mmm, fuck.” The word came out slurred. He cleared his throat, and leaned up on his elbows to watch Steve better. The studious look on his face, his pale butt in the air as he sucked on Bucky was almost too much. But he could see Steve was getting tired from that position as he paused for breath several times, and his hand was limply clasped around Bucky’s dick without any movement. “Should I sit up a bit?”

“Okay,” Steve said.

“I can finish myself off.”

“No, I want to do it,” Steve said.

Bucky laughed. “I’m pretty close anyway. Here.” He sat up and pulled Steve into his lap. He let his knees fall apart. With his feet touching, his legs formed a diamond shape, and Steve fell into the space between them, sitting on the bed with his thighs resting over Bucky’s. “Touch me,” Bucky said.

Steve kissed him and wrapped his hand around Bucky’s dick. Bucky pulled away from Steve’s lips, panting. Steve looked down and jerked Bucky with concentration. He wrapped his other hand around his fingers to help. Bucky wanted to fall back onto the bed and thrust his hips up. That, or grab Steve and hold him tight against his chest, but he did neither. He just rested his hands on Steve’s thighs and let Steve’s wrists work. His eyes closed and his head fell back as the pleasure ran through his entire body. 

“Ah, I’m close,” he moaned. His knees started jerking up of their own accord, reaching for completion. “Yes… Yes. Steve.” Every muscle in his body contracted as he came, his knees squeezed against Steve’s body, and when his hands finally fell away from Steve’s thighs, there were white marks where his fingers had pressed into the skin. 

His body relaxed and he fell back onto the bed. Steve awkwardly held his messy hands and then extracted himself from Bucky to go to the bathroom. Bucky could hear the running water as he washed his hands. He emerged with a cloth and wiped it over Bucky’s stomach and thighs, though it had mostly spilled over onto Steve’s wrists, all while Bucky lay trying to catch his breath. Steve leaned down and kissed the wet skin he’d just ran the cloth over. He got rid of the cloth and climbed onto the bed. Bucky held his arm out and Steve moved to Bucky’s side where he fell asleep on Bucky’s chest. 

Bucky held Steve close. The words died on his tongue, although Steve wouldn’t have heard him anyway. _I love you._

♡

They stayed the night in Monson before embarking on the Hundred-Mile Wilderness. It was their last night together in a bed. They stayed in a hostel, so the bathroom was communal, but they paid a bit extra for a private room.

Steve had a shower first, and when Bucky came from back from his, Steve was sitting naked on the bed looking at the door, like he’d been waiting. “Bucky?”

“Yeah?”

“You know how when we... you know.” 

Bucky drew his eyebrows together in confusion. “What?”

“When we, you know.” He gestured vaguely and looked at the bed.

Oh. They’d only fucked the one time so Bucky had a pretty good idea what Steve might be talking about. But he didn’t say so. “Hmm?”

“Fucked,” Steve finally said.

Bucky felt hot all over. “Yeah.”

“You said that maybe another time you could… do it to me?”

Well, that would be one hell of a parting gift if that’s what Steve was offering. Not that the trail was quite over yet, but Bucky wondered if he was accidentally making time go faster simply by wishing it wouldn’t. 

He turned to make sure the door was locked, then walked over to his pack. He’d kept the bottle of lube and leftover condoms. He’d carried them over five hundred miles for this moment. He walked to the bed and leaned down to kiss Steve, then he said, “Get on your hands and knees.” Steve did so, and Bucky climbed onto the bed behind him.

“Um, like this?” Steve asked, looking a bit embarrassed at being so exposed. 

“Yep.” Bucky smoothed his hand over Steve’s lower back, and leaned down to kiss it. He pulled Steve’s ass cheek open and rubbed his finger over his entrance for a moment before leaning down and kissing it. Steve gasped. 

“Is it okay if I use my mouth?” he asked.

Steve made a gasping ‘yes’.

He sat so his face was level with Steve’s ass and spread his cheeks with his fingers. He saw Steve clench before he put his tongue on him. It was just light, but Steve gasped as if it was the most pleasurable touch he’d ever felt. “ _Oh_.”

Bucky licked up and down, then swirled his tongue around. Steve cried out again, and Bucky had to pull away to shush him. The hostel was small and homey so there was much less anonymity than there would be in a motel. Steve nodded and let his face fall to a pillow, he held it there to muffle his exclamations. Bucky poked the tip of his tongue in and felt Steve shiver. He spiraled his tongue around and around. Steve pushed back onto Bucky’s face and then turned his face from the pillow to apologise breathlessly. 

Bucky looked down and could see Steve was fully hard and wet at the tip. He wanted to take his time, but he also wanted Steve to have the whole experience. He opened the lube and put some on his finger. He looked up towards Steve. He had his head on the side, clutching the pillow. His eyes were closed, and there was deep rose on his cheekbones. Bucky took the sight in, a photograph of memory. 

He pushed his index finger just inside, and Steve gasped again. Steve pushed back causing Bucky’s finger to be pulled inside before he meant it to. “Hey,” he said gently. “Calm down a bit, okay? We’ve got to take this part slow.”

Steve nodded and stilled his body. Bucky took his time easing the finger in. He moved it out and in slowly several times before he felt Steve loosening up enough for it to easily slide. But he didn’t tease Steve with that. He put more lube on and added a second finger. He rubbed his hand over Steve’s back and kissed his butt cheek as a distraction. Steve was loosening up for him perfectly, and it wasn’t long before he felt he could add another finger. “Are you ready for another one?” he asked. 

“Yes,” Steve said, a tremble in his voice. “God, Bucky. This feels so good.”

“I told you it did. Don’t lose it yet though.”

“I won’t. I want to feel you. Hurry up, okay?”

Bucky did as he was told and added the next finger. He was starting to want to hurry himself. He wanted to be inside Steve so badly. The sight of his fingers going in and out made his dick twitch in anticipation. 

“I think you might be ready,” Bucky said. “But it’s up to you. What do you think?”

“I’m ready,” Steve said. He got back up onto all fours and turned to look at Bucky. “I’m ready, Buck.”

“Okay.” Bucky got up onto his knees. He put a condom on and squeezed out a generous amount of lube. He held Steve’s hip with slick fingers as he got into position. He guided his dick to Steve’s opening and watched as it slowly penetrated him. Steve moaned shamelessly. “Shh, we have to be quiet,” Bucky said. He slowly pulled out again, holding Steve’s hips steady. “Okay?” he asked.

“Yeah, keep going.” In he went again, and out, painfully slowly, but he wanted to make sure Steve had properly adjusted to the intrusion. He went a little faster each time, but he still held back until Steve begged him to go faster, and he couldn’t resist. Just as he was working up a rhythm, the bed started squeaking something awful.

He stopped. “We can’t do this on the bed, it’s making too much of a racket.”

Steve’s head snapped back. “What?” He looked appalled.

Bucky had to laugh. “Don’t worry, we’ll just have to move to the floor. Here.” He pulled out all the way and Steve whined. He grabbed the towel he’d brought back with him from the bathroom and laid it on the floor. “Sorry, not as soft as the bed.”

“I don’t care,” Steve said as he crawled onto the towel. Bucky knelt behind him and pushed back in. Steve moaned again but Bucky didn’t have the heart to tell him to be quiet. He probably wasn’t much better. He circled his hips, God, Steve felt so good. He thrust harder and faster. Steve got down on his elbows and Bucky gripped his hips as he went deeper. He was afraid the sound of their slapping skin was too loud, but he had no desire to stop it. He didn’t care any more if someone heard them.

Steve moaned with every thrust and Bucky could tell he was close. He was close too. He reached underneath and grasped Steve’s dick. It only took a few pulls, and he felt Steve pulsing in his hand and his body clench around Bucky’s dick. It hit him with such force that his legs shook as he came too, with a combination of a gasp and a grunt. His weight fell onto Steve’s back, and it was hard not to stay there, but he knew he should get up in case he was hurting Steve.

He pulled out and Steve fell to the floor panting. He rolled over and stared up at Bucky in amazement. Bucky had to chuckle at his stunned look. “You enjoyed yourself then?” 

Steve nodded. “A lot,” he said.

Bucky disposed of the condom and stared at Steve. He looked a mess. A lovely mess. “I guess we need showers again, huh?”

Steve made a face, but agreed. He snuck off for another quick shower. He came back wearing just a towel and Bucky watched as he dried off and put his pair of sweats on. He admired how much muscle Steve had gained over the last six months. But when he turned around, Bucky noticed angry red marks on his arms. 

“Oh no. Look at your arms.”

Steve turned and lifted his forearm up to inspect his elbow. He had carpet burn. “Everyone’s going to know what this is from!” he said, looking panicked.

“Didn’t you feel it in the shower?” Bucky asked. “Doesn’t it hurt?”

“I didn’t notice. I was thinking about…” He gestured to the floor.

Bucky started laughing. “It’s okay, you’ll just have to wear a long sleeved shirt.”

Steve laughed too. “I guess it was worth it.”

♡

The weather was wonderful their first couple of days in the Hundred-Mile Wilderness, but when they woke up that morning, they knew it was about to change. It was cold, about forty degrees, and the entire sky was grey, black as coal in patches. When Bucky felt a drop on his cheek he knew it wouldn’t be long before the sky would open up completely and they would be drenched.

It rained heavily. Bucky thought given his hatred for rain the least whoever was up there could do would be to give him a break for a while. Let him enjoy his last week or so with Steve. Of course, he wasn’t that lucky. 

Even though it was only morning, they knew they were approaching a lean-to and decided to stop there for a while for respite and wait to see if the rain would die down. They sat in shared misery with their backs against the wall, looking out as the rain poured down. They sat in silence. For once, Bucky had nothing to say. It wasn’t an uncomfortable silence, but there was a sadness about it. 

“We won’t have to deal with this for much longer,” Steve said eventually, as if Bucky would be happy about that. He was probably just trying to lift Bucky’s spirits. Of course he didn’t know that summiting Mount Katahdin was the last thing Bucky wanted to do. Bucky didn’t respond.

A mouse ran along the shelter entrance. It stopped right in front of them and sniffed around. “Little fucker,” Bucky said, but he didn’t try and get rid of the mouse, he just watched it intently. It was actually kind of cute. 

“This is all almost over,” he said. There was a hint of desperation in his voice. He was probably the only person on the trail who wasn’t ready. 

“Yeah,” Steve said. 

“Steve?”

“Yeah?” he repeated.

Now seemed as good a time as any. Because he was running out of time. If he wasn’t going to say it now, when would he? “I don’t know what… what you want from… this. Not the trail, but me. But I want to be with you. After this is over.”

Steve sat motionless, like he was frozen. There was a sinking feeling in Bucky’s belly. He’d ruined it. This was just supposed to be a memory for Steve – something he looked back on fondly. He had been selfish to think he could have Steve for any longer.

Slowly Steve turned to face him. “Really?” he whispered.

Bucky swallowed. “Yes.” He paused before saying, finally, “I love you.” 

“I want to show you something,” Steve said. He dragged his pack towards him and rummaged around inside. He pulled out his sketchbook and flicked through the pages. When he found the one he wanted, he handed the book to Bucky. “Here.” It was a picture of him, lying in a bed of wildflowers, smiling, with his eyes closed. “I don’t know why it never occurred to me then that I was falling in love with you,” Steve said. “I was such an idiot.”

“No, you weren’t,” Bucky immediately argued. 

Steve laughed. “I was. I was falling in love with you that whole time and didn’t even realise it. Not until that night at Harper’s Ferry, and even then I was too surprised to even figure out my feelings for you. Other than knowing that I... wanted you.”

“I don’t even know when you did this,” Bucky said.

“It was in Virginia. I quickly did it when you weren’t looking. Then I worked on it in my tent and hotel rooms.” 

Bucky just sat there verklempt. He was having trouble shaping words into sentences. “It’s, Steve, I don’t know what to say.”

“That’s a first,” Steve said, smiling shyly.

“Does this mean… you want to be with me too? When this is over?”

“Of course I do. Come here.” He grabbed the front of Bucky’s jacket, pulling him close and smashing his lips into Bucky’s. Bucky let himself melt into the kiss. There were many times during his trip that he’d felt he was the happiest he’d ever been. But none of those moments even compared to this. 

Steve pulled away and chuckled. “I was dreading this trip coming to an end.”

“I was too. Man, are we both stupid or what,” Bucky said. He felt especially foolish having entertained ideas that Steve was only interested in him because of the sex. That just wasn’t him. He was old fashioned, and physical relationships probably meant a lot to him. 

“I thought after this you would probably want to go back to dating people who are more…” Steve didn’t finish his sentence. 

“More what?”

“More in your league, I guess.”

“Steve, come on. You must know how attracted I am to you.” He touched Steve’s thigh. “I’m pretty obvious about it, don’t you think?”

Steve laughed. “Well, yeah. But I’m always surprised.”

“I’m surprised too, Steve – that you would want to be with _me_. But feeling surprised feels good doesn’t it? Before, I never really thought about... I didn’t want a serious relationship. Now I do. With you. And it feels good.” 

“Lucky for you I’m a serious relationship kinda guy.” He looked down, embarrassed.

“Does that mean I’m not Charlie Brown anymore? I’m feeling seriously lucky right now.”

Steve laughed and shoved his leg. Bucky just leaned in, close enough their noses bumped. “No, you’re Bucky,” Steve whispered, “and I love you.”

♡

The leaves were starting to change. Autumn colours mixed with the evergreens; maple leaves burned bright red against the pale cerulean sky, vibrant yellow leaves covered the forest floor. Bucky wasn’t sure if Maine had always been this beautiful, or he was just noticing it more because he knew Steve loved him.

Steve and Bucky saw a doe amongst the pink dogwoods. She stared at them and they stared back in awe. “She’s so beautiful,” Steve whispered. Bucky had been on hunting trips before with his family, but he never really enjoyed it that much, even though he was good at it. Seeing Steve’s face made him never want to do it again. 

They stopped at a big lake lined with poplars and pine trees. They took their shoes off to dip their toes into water. It was incredibly still until Bucky starting skipping rocks, trying hard to impress Steve by skipping them further each time. He knew he didn’t have to impress Steve, but he got to reap the reward of Steve’s wide eyes and encouraging whoops.

“You know,” Steve said. “We are both from New York. We probably would’ve had to figure out a way home together anyway. Or we could have extended the trip. We probably could have dragged it out until one of us finally admitted how we really felt.” He chuckled.

“That’s true,” Bucky said, sitting down beside Steve. “I can’t believe out of all the places to meet you it was on the AT.” He thought, maybe it was just _meant_ to happen that way. He thought about the fact they had walked over two thousand miles together. They’d actually done it. Even if their relationship hadn’t blossomed the way it had, it would still be an experience he would share with Steve forever. He didn’t know anyone who could understand what it was like the way Steve did. He couldn’t believe he’d ever thought they would never see each other again. 

He took Steve’s hand. “I love you.” Now that he’d said it, he couldn’t stop saying it. He was aware he was being beyond sentimental, but he didn’t care.

♡

They forded their last river, and luckily there was a rope to help them across, so Bucky didn’t get too worried about Steve. They were nearing the end of the Hundred-Mile Wilderness. Although a huge weight had been lifted from Bucky’s shoulders, he was still sad it was ending.

Steve shivered a bit as he put his shoes back on. “You’re cold,” Bucky said.

“I’m okay. I’ll warm up again in a minute, once we start walking.” He stood up and took the lead.

The trail was wonderfully flat for once so they got a fast pace going. Bucky had recently bought a speaker he could clip onto his pack, which he wished he’d gotten sooner because the sound quality was much better than just playing music on his phone. He had it going as they hiked. Steve never complained about the stuff Bucky played, but he guessed Steve probably had more of a sophisticated taste, since he was an artist. However, as they lumbered along he thought he heard Steve singing. “What was that?” he called.

“Nothing.”

“Did I hear you singing?”

“I like this song!” Steve said defensively.

“Stop,” Bucky said. Steve turned his head to give Bucky an offended look. “No, I mean stop walking.” Steve stopped and turned around. “Take off your pack.”

“Why?”

“I want to dance with you.”

“What?” He watched as Bucky took his own pack off, placing it on the ground so the speaker was facing up at them.

“I want to dance with you, come on.”

“I can’t believe what a sap you are,” Steve said, but he shrugged his pack off.

“Get used to it, pal.” 

Steve grinned at that and Bucky’s stomach flip-flopped. “This song is too fast,” Steve said. “I don’t know how to dance to stuff like this. Or anything really.”

“I’ll put it on a slow song,” Bucky said. “I’ll teach you how to dance to the faster stuff later. There isn’t much to it though. You just have to grind up against me. Pretty sure you know how to do that already.”

Steve whacked his arm playfully. Bucky scrolled through the music on his phone, looking for the perfect song. His thumb paused over what he knew was the right one, contemplating whether he should actually play it or not. Steve had already called him a sap. He glanced up at Steve who was patiently waiting and tapped on the song. Dolly Parton’s ‘I Will Always Love You’.

He pulled Steve close, wrapping his arms around his middle and letting his cheek fall to press against Steve’s ear. He swayed back and forth, and Steve followed. 

“Bucky?”

“Yeah?”

“You know this song is kind of sad, right?”

“I know, but the main part is still true,” he mumbled.

Steve paused. “Yeah. It is.”

♡

They walked along Rainbow Stream the morning of their last day in the wilderness and greeted leaf peeping tourists as they made their way out and crossed Abol bridge. They could see Katahdin in the distance. In the next couple of days, they would reach the northern terminus of the Appalachian Trail.

They woke early on the day they were to summit the mountain. They grinned at each other as they began their hike, brimming with excitement. After an hour or so though, they had to start really concentrating as the climbing became a lot more technical. Bucky never wanted to see another rock in his life.

At first glance of the sign, he got butterflies, and as he got closer he wiped at his eyes as tears started to form. He slapped the sign and cheered, pulling Steve into a hug. Then he lay his forehead on it and kissed it in gratitude. 

He didn’t know what his future held, and maybe that was okay. Maybe he never was going to figure that out on the trail. All he knew about his future was that Steve was a part of it. And that was enough. That was everything.

**Author's Note:**

> I’m [@lovesdresses](http://lovesdresses.tumblr.com/) on Tumblr. :)


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